Yvonne Bond Miller is an American politician. A Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, she served in the Virginia House of Delegates

Virginia House of Delegates

The Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbered years. The House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, who is elected from among the...

 1984–87 after which she was elected to the Senate of Virginia

Senate of Virginia

The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 Senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia...

. She was the first African-American woman to serve in each house. She the 5th district, made up of parts of the cities of Norfolk

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

, Chesapeake

Chesapeake, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 199,184 people, 69,900 households, and 54,172 families residing in the city. The population density was 584.6 people per square mile . There were 72,672 housing units at an average density of 213.3 per square mile...

 and Virginia Beach

Virginia Beach, Virginia

Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay...

.

Miller the longest serving woman in the Virginia Senate, ranking 4th in overall seniority. In 1996, she became the first woman to chair a Senate committee.

Personal life

Miller was born in Edenton and raised in Norfolk, the oldest of thirteen children. In 1956 she received a B.S.

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 degree from the segregated, all-black Norfolk Division of Virginia State College, now Norfolk State University

Norfolk State University

Norfolk State University is a four-year, state-supported, coed, liberal arts, historically black university located in Norfolk, Virginia. It is member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund and the Virginia High-Tech Partnership.-Academics:...

, and began teaching in the then-segregated Norfolk Public Schools. The first six white schools ordered to integrate were closed from September 1958 to January 1959 under authority of Virginia's Stanley plan

Stanley plan

The Stanley plan was a package of 13 statutes adopted in September 1956 by the U.S. state of Virginia designed to ensure racial segregation in that state's public schools despite the ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 347 U.S. 483 ....

, which implemented the "massive resistance

Massive resistance

Massive resistance was a policy declared by U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr. on February 24, 1956, to unite other white politicians and leaders in Virginia in a campaign of new state laws and policies to prevent public school desegregation after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision...

" policy against racial integraton.

Miller later earned an M.A.

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 degree in the summer Teacher's College program at Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 and a Ph.D

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 from the University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

. She joined the education faculty at Norfolk State, becoming a professor and head of the Department of Early Childhood/Elementary Education. In 1999 she retired and was named Professor Emeritus.

Miller is a life member of Zeta Phi Beta

Zeta Phi Beta

Zeta Phi Beta is an international, historically black Greek-lettered sorority and a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council.Zeta Phi Beta is organized into 800+ chapters, in eight intercontinental regions including the USA, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean...

 Sorority.

External links

• Project Vote Smart - Senator Yvonne Bond Miller (VA) profile
• Follow the Money - Yvonne B Miller
  • 2005 2003 2001 1999 campaign contributions
• Washington Post - Senate District 5 Race