Local couple’s civil rights activism spans decades

Editor's Note: This story has been updated since its Feb. 28 print publication to clarify details.

After 58 years of marriage, Bill and Sibyl Miller, two lifelong social justice activists, are still just as dedicated to working together to support their community. 

The Miami Mergers met in class while attending Miami University in 1963 and started dating shortly after. At that time, the Civil Rights Movement was in full swing, and Bill was one of the few Black students attending the university.

“Even though Miami was a conservative school, there were activists who cared about social justice,” Sibyl said. 

Sibyl and Bill were two of those activists. 

Sibyl’s parents, Marliee and Robert Harris, were well-known in Oxford for their organic farming and environmental work. Sibyl and her parents participated in the 1963 March on Washington where they saw Martin Luther King Jr. give his infamous “I Have a Dream” speech. Sibyl said the lives her parents led shaped the course of her own life. 

“My family, my mother and father, were [civil rights] activists,” Sibyl said. “They were really informed by the Christian gospel.”

Bill’s family also had a history of fighting for civil rights in Oxford. His grandfather, Simon Miller, was a founding member and president of the Oxford NAACP and worked to desegregate the Oxford Municipal Pool in 1950. Bill’s uncle, Arthur Miller, was also president of the NAACP for more than 20 years. 

“I sort of just fell into [civil rights work],” Bill said. “We were sort of surrounded by activist things.” 

Sibyl graduated from Miami in 1966, and the two got married that same year. At the time, interracial marriage was still illegal in many U.S. states, including Ohio, so the young couple packed up and drove to the closest state where it was legal — Indiana — to tie the knot.

The newlyweds lived in Ohio for a year while Bill finished his undergraduate degree before moving to New York City. There, they continued their education in graduate school. Bill earned his master’s degree in human resource development at The New School for Social Research, while Sibyl earned her master’s in social work at Hunter College School of Social Work. 

For 35 years, the couple made New York City their home, raised their children and built careers working for the New York State and New York City governments. They also volunteered much of their time working for different nonprofits to support their community. 

In 2000, Bill and Sibyl moved back to Oxford because their parents needed extra care in their older age, and Sibyl’s parents needed help managing their farm. 

“It’s a family farm, and Sibyl’s father was a passionate organic guy,” Bill said. “And he got us involved over the years … When we got back [to Oxford] we just sort of took over the farm gradually.” 

Currently, the couple owns and operates the Harris-Miller Farm together and sells their products to local stores like MOON Co-op. Aside from managing the farm, Bill is vice president of the Ohio Farmer Union, president of the Miami Valley Farmers Union and following in his father’s footsteps as treasurer of the Oxford NAACP. 

When they moved back from New York, Sibyl worked at YWCA for 10 years before retiring. She got involved in Oxford NAACP as well and is still a member at large on its executive committee. Sibyl also serves as a member of the McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital Foundation Board of Trustees and co-chair of the Oxford League of Women Voters and has been involved in other volunteer work throughout the community.

Sibyl and Bill attend the St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Darrtown. Through their church, Bill was a volunteer tutor for Bogan Elementary School students for several years. 

“We’ve had fun over the years,” Sibyl said, as Bill nodded in agreement.