E. Willard “Will” Miller (1915–2002)

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Notes

1. Contributors to this article include Ron Abler, Larry Brown, Roger Downs, Art Getis, Amy Glasmeier, Mark Monmonier, Kathy Sherman, Ruth Shirey, and Bob Ziegenfus. The photograph of Will and Ruby was provided and edited by Diane Carducci and Jaclyn Cruikshank, office staff in the Department of Geography, The Ohio State University. Larry Brown served as coordinator and editor in assembling the final article.

2. This section is almost entirely taken from Robert C. Ziegenfus, “E. Willard Miller: A Life Remembered and Light Reflected,”The Pennsylvania Geographer 41 (2003). In the course of preparing his article, Ziegenfus spoke extensively with Ruby Miller. Any alterations in Ziegenfus's words are indicated by brackets.

3. See http://www.as.wvu.edu/ihtia/ANF%20Oil%20Context.pdf, “Allegheny Oil Heritage Project: A Contextual Overview of Crude Oil Production in Pennsylvania,” Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. PA-436.

4. E. Willard Miller, ed. 1993. Appendix 1 in The American Society for Professional Geographers: Papers Presented on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of Its Founding. Washington: Association of American Geographers, Occasional Publication Series No. 3.

5. This was a point of continued bitterness among some ASPG members who opposed amalgamation and/or wanted the word “professional” to be included in the title of the new association.

6. That Will did not receive AAG Honors until 1990 may reflect this ongoing tension. But one also must consider that much of what Will had accomplished was taken for granted in later years.

7. E. Willard Miller, ed. 1993. Preface in The American Society for Professional Geographers: Papers Presented on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of Its Founding. Washington: Association of American Geographers, Occasional Publication Series, No. 3, ix.

8. Robert C. Ziegenfus, “E. Willard Miller: A Life Remembered and Light Reflected,”The Pennsylvania Geographer 41 (2003). Will was assisted in organizing the Pennsylvania Council for Geographic Education by George Deasy and Phyliss Griess. In private conversation, Will also credited Mary Viola Phillips for being another pioneer in this cause. The Pennsylvania Geographer is the major journal publication of the Pennsylvania Geographical Society.

9. Mark's Monmonier's Spying With Maps: Surveillance Technologies and the Future of Privacy (2002, University of Chicago Press) was dedicated to Will and Ruby. The root of this strong relationship was Mark's getting to know both through the Pennsylvania Academy of Science. The dedication reads, “To Will and Ruby Miller; Geographers Extraordinaire.”

10. The Monmonier and Murphy quotes are taken from George A. Schnell, “Dr. E. Willard Miller and the Pennsylvania Academy of Science,”Pennsylvania Geographer 41 (2003).

11. These words appeared in the Pennsylvania State Department of Geography newsletter, Summer 2003, under the title “Remembering Our Founder: E. Willard Miller”, written by Roger Downs as head. Alteration to Downs's words are indicated by brackets.

12. As an indication of Will's relationship with McBryde, he wrote the memorial article “F. Webster McBryde, 1908–1995”Annals of the Association of American Geographers 86 (1996), 343–46.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lawrence A. Brown

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