Ruth Miller papers

Ruth M. Miller, born in 1943, was an active member of the predominantly African American Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Charleston, South Carolina and served on Plymouth's Board of Trustees.

Miller graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts. She taught high school until 1979, when she became a licensed city guide for Charleston, South Carolina. She then co-founded Charleston Strolls, a business that offers walking tours of the city. As of 2005, Miller was the sole owner of this company.

Miller is the author and illustrator of Charleston Charlie (1989) and co-author of The Angel Oak Story: Johns Island Reminiscences (1989) and Charleston's Old Exchange Building: A Witness to American History (1986, 2005).

SOURCE: Miller, Ruth M. and Andrus, Ann Taylor. Charleston's Old Exchange Building: A Witness to American History. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2005.

Plymouth Congregational Church was established in 1867 and originally consisted of former African American members of the Circular Congregational Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The congregation's first structure, dedicated in 1872, was located at 32 Bull Street. Plymouth Congregational Church had close ties to the Avery Normal Institute: many of its ministers were principals of Avery, and sometimes services were conducted in Avery's chapel when the regular church building was unavailable.

In 1957, when the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches of the United States merged to form the United Church of Christ, Plymouth's name changed to Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ. In 1958, under the direction of Reverend John Thomas Enwright, a new structure was erected at 124 Spring Street, where, as of 2011, the congregation continues to meet.