THE DIGITAL REPOSITORY FOR THE BLACK EXPERIENCE
"To God Be The Glory Great Things He Has Done"
Political administrator Lorraine C. Miller was born on May 6, 1948 in Fort Worth, Texas to Lena Marie and Johnnie C. Miller. After graduating from Como Junior Senior High School in 1966, Miller enrolled at Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, Texas. In 1968, she began attending the University of North Texas, where she received her B.A. degree in political science in 1972. Miller would later attend Georgetown University and graduate in 1998 with her executive M.B.A degree.
Miller initially worked as a high school government teacher in Fort Worth before she was hired by the Maryland Legislature in the late 1970s and enrolled in classes at American University in Washington, D.C. In 1978, she was hired to work for U.S. Congressman Jim Wright (TX) as his executive assistant when he was Speaker of the House from 1987 to 1989. Subsequently, Miller joined the staff of House Speaker Tom Foley (WA) and U.S. Congressman John Lewis (GA) in the early 1990s. In the mid-1990s, Miller served two years in the White House as the Deputy Assistant to President William J. Clinton. She then served as the Director of Government Relations for the Federal Trade Commission from 1995 to 1999. In 1999, Miller was appointed Chief of the Consumer Information Bureau for the Federal Communications Commission. She served as senior advisor to House Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi from 2001 until 2007, when Pelosi named Miller the Clerk of the House of Representatives, becoming the first African American to both hold that seat and to serve as an officer of the U.S. House of Representatives. She remained in these roles until 2011 after which she returned to the state of Texas and began a career in real estate with Keller Williams Preferred Properties and Northern Crain Realty in Fort Worth.
In 2004, Miller was elected president of the Washington, D.C. branch of the NAACP. Then, in 2008, she was elected to the NAACP National Board of Directors. From November 2013 to May 2014, Miller served as the interim president and CEO of the NAACP. She joined the Association of Secretaries Generals of Parliaments in 2010. In 2012, Miller became a member of the board of directors of DC Vote and a member of the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors. She served as a Superdelegate for the state of Texas at the 2016 Democratic National Convention and as a co-chair of the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee.
Miller lives in Fort Worth, Texas.
Lorraine C. Miller was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on July 27, 2013 and on May 9, 2022.