In 1973, Belle K. Miller received the Bert A. Polsky Humanitarian Award from the Akron Community Foundation. The choice made sense. Miller showed her humanitarian side in many ways. She was a crusader for children and mental health. She worked hard for the Jewish community both locally and nationally.
Born in Newport, Ky., she and her parents moved to Akron in 1914. She became a nurse and worked at Akron City Hospital, where she met her husband pediatrician Noah Miller.
She started as a community activist while her children were growing up and she focused her activism on youth and their mental problems. She founded the Summit County Mental Hygiene Clinic and served as its president. She was also an early president of the Akron Child Guidance Center and the Sagamore Hills Children’s Psychiatric Hospital.
Committed to principles of social justice, Miller was an advocate of fair housing and served on the board of the Akron Urban League. She was also long active in the League of Women Voters, serving as president of the Akron league and board member of the Ohio league.
A member of Temple Israel, Miller remained active in the Jewish community. She was president of the Akron Jewish Family Service Society and a fund-raiser for the Akron Jewish Federation, the National Women’s Division of United Jewish Appeals and the Council of Jewish Federation Welfare Funds. In 1987, the Women’s Division gave her its “Woman of Valor” award.
Miller also served on the boards of a variety of community organizations, including Goals for Greater Akron, Planned Parenthood, United Way Women and the Women’s Board of Stan Hywet Hall. Her concern for the city’s appearance led her to service on the Akron Urban Design Commission, the citizen’s advisory committee to the Akron Planning Commission and the board of Keep Akron Beautiful.
Miller died on Nov. 26, 2001 in Jupiter, Fla. Her funeral was held in Akron. She is buried at Rose Hill Burial Park.
Photo courtesy of the Beacon Journal.
–Kathleen L. Endres