Harvey Miller Interview 3

DateJune 25, 1980

MediumDocument

Credit LineReynolda House Museum of American Art Archives

CopyrightPublic Domain

Object numberOH.02.023.3

DescriptionHarvey Miller (1919-1990) was interviewed at Reynolda House by Lu Ann Jones for the Reynolda Oral History Project. Harvey grew up in Five Row after his parents Henry and Mamie Miller moved to the estate in 1922. Henry Miller worked on the farm, primarily as a mule teamster. Educated at the Five Row school, Harvey started out doing odd jobs on the estate–helping out at the garage, caddying on the golf course. He eventually trained under John Carter to become the butler for the Babcock family. He worked at Reynolda and at the Babcock’s home in Greenwich, Connecticut. Harvey continued to work at Reynolda after it became a museum for American art. Harvey retired in 1982. During his interview, Harvey discusses growing up in Five Row and what it was like to work for the Reynolds and Babcock families. Reflecting on working for the Babcocks, Harvey Miller said, “She [Mary] didn’t say ‘my servants,’ it was her ‘staff.’ They didn’t tell you to do so-and-so, they asked you. And said thank you…they had respect for us and we had respect for them; I’ll put it that way.”
ProvenanceThe Reynolda House Museum of American Art Oral History Project, established in 1980, gathered recollections from Reynolds family members and former employees, residents, and guests of the Reynolda estate. The interviews explore life at Reynolda and in Winston-Salem, N.C., during the early and mid-twentieth century, touching on the area’s socioeconomic, political, business, and cultural history. Early interviews conducted in 1980 were done by Lu Ann Jones; later interviews were conducted by museum staff.

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