I Don't Swim: An Evening with Helen Miller

Join us for an evening with author, Helen Miller; she will discuss her memoir, I Don't Swim. Although Miller’s parents were part of the Great Migration of Black families to the North to escape racism and poverty, they did not have access to public or private pools or beaches. She considered that her parents’ and her inability to swim was related to something bigger: the history of Black Americans. Miller shares the events of her life in the context of the Civil Rights Movement and beyond, during the times when Blacks were finding and projecting their voices onto the tapestry that was and is America.

Helen Miller is a retired lawyer and state legislator. She was born in Newark, New Jersey, and earned a bachelor of arts degree from Howard University, a master’s degree from Our Lady of the Lake University, and a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center. She served as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives for sixteen years and was the first minority to serve on the House Agriculture Committee. Additionally, Miller chaired the Iowa Board of Parole from July 2019 to July 2021.