Finding Aid for the Bill Miles Collection

MUM01782

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Biographical Note

Scope and Content

Administrative Information

Related Materials

Controlled Access Headings

PURL

Access Restrictions

Collection Inventory

PURL

http://purl.oclc.org/umarchives/MUM01782/

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Access Restrictions

Open for research. This collection is stored at an off-site facility. Researchers interested in using this collection must contact Archives and Special Collections at least two business days in advance of their planned visit.

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Summary Information

Repository

University of Mississippi Libraries

Creator - Creator

Miles, William T.

Title

Bill Miles Collection

Date

1962-2011

Extent

9.0 Linear feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

After working briefly as a journalist, Bill Miles formed the advertising/public relations firm Bristow-Miles Associates, Inc. in 1963 in Tupelo, Mississippi (later Bill Miles Associates). The firm often represented local political candidates. In 1996, voters of Itawamba and Monroe counties sent Miles to the Mississippi House of Representatives where he remained for the next twelve years.

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Biographical Note

Born in 1938, William T. (Bill) Miles grew up in the Tilden community of Itawamba County, Mississippi. He attended Itawamba Community College from 1955 to 1957 where he was the first student to major in journalism and served as editor of the campus newspaper. In 1959, Miles received a B.A. from the University of Mississippi. From 1959 to 1963, he worked as a reporter for the Tupelo Journal. While pursuing his degree, he financed his education by writing pieces for the Birmingham News, Memphis Press Scimitar, Memphis Commercial Appeal, and Jackson Daily News.

After graduation, Miles worked for a year in the Public Information Office of Mississippi State University and later served as a reporter for the Tupelo Daily Journal. In 1963, he formed the advertising/public relations firm Bristow-Miles Associates, Inc. in Tupelo, later Bill Miles Associates. In addition to businesses and organizations, Bill Miles Associates represented local political candidates, including U.S. Representative Jamie Whitten.

Miles also formed a magazine specialty company called Mid-South Publications, Inc. He served as editor of the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Association Journal for 22 years and also helped to establish the magazines  See Tupelo and  Today in the New South. Over the years, he has held an interest in several northeast Mississippi newspapers. From 1972 to 1980, Miles was owner and editor of the  Amory Advertiser.

A member of the North Mississippi Advertising Federation and the Society of Professional Journalists, Miles has also held various offices on the Board of Governors of the Mississippi Press Association. In addition, he has served on the Amory-North Monroe Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Directors of the Itawamba County Development Council, trustee of the Magnolia Bible College, and board member of the Sunnybrook Children’s Home and Sunnybrook Estates Inc. in Madison and Ridgeland, Mississippi. He is an elder in the Fulton Church of Christ.

In 1996, the District 21 voters of Itawamba and Monroe counties sent Miles to the Mississippi House of Representatives in a special election. A Democrat, he remained there for the next twelve years, becoming a confidant of Speaker Billy McCoy and chairing the influential Transportation Committee. Miles supported highways, health care, and public education.

While at attending the University of Mississippi, Miles married Pat Reed of Fulton, Mississippi. Together they had a son, Skip Miles, and a daughter, Pattie Miles Cox. Pat Miles died in 2003, and Miles married his second wife, Barbara Pierce Oswalt.

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Scope and Content

Over the years, Bill Miles retained a close relationship with both of his alma maters (Itawamaba Community College and the University of Mississippi), at times teaching journalism, advertising, marketing, and public relations courses as well as serving on journalism advisory boards. The correspondence files reflect these close ties.

During his time in Oxford as a stringer for outside newspapers, Miles covered the 1962 integration of the University of Mississippi by James Meredith as well as Meredith’s 1963 graduation. The collection includes photographs of these events as well as copies of Miles’s articles.

Boxes 1, 2, and 3 contain correspondence dating from 1963 to 2011, spanning Miles’ career in journalism, publishing, public relations, and the Mississippi legislature.

Box 3 also holds selected client files on candidates for political office for whom Miles provided public relations.

Files related to Miles’s own tenure in the Mississippi House of Representatives appear in Boxes 3 and 4. Subjects covered include political campaigns, constituent concerns, legislation, and politics.

Box 5 contains two scrapbooks and two handwritten journals documenting Miles’ tenure in the legislature, as well as two plaques.

Finally, the collection includes a series of audio and audiovisual recordings produced by Bill Miles Associates for various political clients. These are stored separately in boxes 6 and 7.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

University of Mississippi Libraries February 2013

Access Restrictions

The Bill Miles Collection is open for research.

The original photographs and recordings in this collection are stored at an off-site facility. Researchers interested in using this collection must contact Archives and Special Collections at least two business days in advance of their planned visit.

Copyright Restrictions

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

Additions

No further additions are expected to this collection.

Acquisition Information

Bill Miles donated the collection in September 2012. He made a second donation in October 2012.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Leigh McWhite, September 2012. Finding aid created by Kathryn Michaelis, February 2013.

Alternative Formats

Photographs from the Bill Miles Collection are available as a digital collection.

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Related Materials

Related Materials at the University of Mississippi

Bill Miles Associates created eight of the political campaign recordings in the Jamie Whitten Collection that are available in the Jamie Whitten digital collection.

Further images by Bill Miles of the events surrounding the 1962 integration of the University of Mississippi are in the Mississippi Highway Patrol Collection, available online as part of the Integration of the University of Mississippi digital collection.

For other related holdings, consult the Politics & Government Subject Guide as well as the Journalism & Mass Media Subject Guide.

Separated Materials

The following items have been separated from the collection and cataloged:

Bill Miles. Scribe Among Pharisees (Mid-South Fine Printers, 2008). Miles’s autobiography. Call Number: F345.3 M55 A3 2008.

Patricia Reed Miles. The Continuing Reed Family in America (Amory, MS: Mid-South Publications, 1991). Call Number: F347 I8 M5 1991.

William Trice Miles, Sr. A Family Named Miles (Amory, MS: Mid-South Fine Printers, 1996). Call Number: F347 I8 M54 1996.

Walt Grayson’s Mississippi Millennial Moments: Mississippi’s Contributions to the 20th Century (Grayson Family Productions, February 2000). VHS tape recording. Call Number: F341 M548 2000.

Photographs: Original photographs and negatives are stored separately in a Cold Room in Modern Political Archives Photographs Box 8, Folders 1 through 8 and 27 through 49. The images are also available online as part of the Bill Miles digital collection.

Recordings: All the recordings in Boxes 6 and 7 are stored separately in a Cold Room for preservation reasons.

Framed Items: The collection also includes a framed painting of U.S. Representative Jamie L. Whitten on papyrus with an engraved plate: “Presented by Field Marshall Mohamed Abdel Halim Abou Ghazala, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense and Military Productions, Egypt.” Stored separately adjacent to MPA Framed Item Case 2.

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

• Itawamba Community College (Fulton, Miss.)
• Mississippi. Legislature. House of Representatives
• University of Mississippi. Dept. of Journalism

Format(s)

• 16mm
• audiotapes
• books
• correspondence
• journals (accounts)
• manuscripts
• negatives (photographic)
• photographs
• scrapbooks
• VHS (TM)

Geographic Name(s)

• Mississippi -- Politics and government

Personal Name(s)

• Whitten, Jamie L.

Subject(s)

• Journalism -- Mississippi -- History -- 20th century
• Political campaigns -- Mississippi
• Politicians -- Mississippi

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Collection Inventory

1.1 Correspondence, 1963
1.2 Correspondence, 1964
1.3 Correspondence, 1965
1.4 Correspondence, 1966
1.5 Correspondence, 1967
1.6 Correspondence, 1968
1.7 Correspondence, 1969
1.8 Correspondence, 1970
1.9 Correspondence, 1971
1.10 Correspondence, 1972
1.11 Correspondence, 1973
1.12 Correspondence, 1974
1.13 Correspondence, 1975
1.14 Correspondence, 1976
1.15 Correspondence, 1977
1.16 Correspondence, 1978
1.17 Correspondence, 1979
1.18 Correspondence, 1980
1.19 Correspondence, 1981
1.20 Correspondence, 1982
1.21 Correspondence, 1983
1.22 Correspondence, 1984
1.23 Correspondence, 1985
1.24 Correspondence, 1986
1.25 Correspondence, 1987
1.26 Correspondence, 1988
1.27 Correspondence, 1989
1.28 Correspondence, 1990
1.29 Correspondence, 1991
1.30 Correspondence, 1992
1.31 Correspondence, 1993
1.32 Correspondence, 1994
1.33 Correspondence, 1995
1.34 Correspondence, 1996
1.35 Correspondence, 1997
1.36 Correspondence, 1998
2.1 Correspondence, 1999
2.2 Correspondence, 2000
2.3 Correspondence, 2001
2.4 Correspondence, 2002
2.5 Correspondence, 2003
2.6 Correspondence, 2004
3.1 Correspondence, 2005
3.2 Correspondence, 2006
3.3 Correspondence, 2007
3.4 Correspondence, 2008
3.5 Correspondence, 2009
3.6 Correspondence, 2010
3.7 Correspondence, 2011
3.8 Client File: Sharon Richardson Aycock, 2002  Scope and Content Material related to political campaign of Sharon Richardson Aycock for Mississippi First District Circuit Judge.
3.9 Client File: James L. Ballard, 1961-198  Scope and Content Material related to Tupelo, Mississippi mayor James L. Ballard and the dedication of the James L. Ballard Park in Tupelo.
3.10 Client File: Jimmie Caldwell, 1981-1985  Scope and Content Material related to political campaigns of Jimmy Caldwell for mayor of Tupelo.
3.11 Client File: R. Kenneth Coleman, 1990  Scope and Content Material related to political campaign of R. Kenneth Coleman for Mississippi Third District Circuit Judge.
3.12 Client File: Steve Holland, 2007  Scope and Content Material related to political campaign of Steve Holland for Mississippi House of Representatives.
3.13 Client File: Jim Roberts, 1992  Scope and Content Material related to the successful Mississippi Supreme Court election campaign of James L. Roberts Jr. against incumbent James Lawton Robertson.
3.14 Client File: Eloise Scott, 1991-1992  Scope and Content Material related to the political campaign of Eloise Scott to represent Lee County in the Mississippi House of Representatives.
3.15 Client File: Ed Snyder, 1990-1991  Scope and Content Material related to Ed Snyder’s political campaign for District Attorney of Mississippi’s Fifth Circuit Court District.
3.16 Client File: Zack Stewart, 1994-2010  Scope and Content Material related to Zack Stewart’s political campaign for Mississippi Transportation Commissioner for Northern Mississippi.
3.17 Client File: Preston Sullivan, 1991  Scope and Content Material related to Preston Sullivan’s political campaign for Chickasaw County District 4 Supervisor.
3.18 Client File: Jamie L. Whitten, 1986  Scope and Content Material related to Jamie L. Whitten’s reelection campaign for U.S. House of Representatives; given to Miles by the widow of Bill Dunlap.
3.19 Client File: Jamie L. Whitten, 1990  Scope and Content Material related to Jamie L Whitten’s reelection campaign for U.S. House of Representatives.
3.20 Client File: Jamie L. Whitten, Tennessee Valley Authority Documentary, 1991  Scope and Content Material related to Miles’s production work on a Jamie L. Whitten documentary for TVA.
3.21 Sample Ballot. Bill Miles Election, 1996
3.22 Card. “Elect Bill Miles Representative District 21,” [1996]
3.23 Card. “Representative Bill Miles, District 21, House of Representatives,” undated
3.24 Campaign mailing. “Together We Can Make a Difference…Elect Bill Miles to the House of Representatives, [1996]
3.25 Newsletter: District 21 Voter Times, [1996]  Scope and Content Bill Miles campaign publication. Two different issues.
3.26 Envelopes. “Elect Bill Miles Representative District 21,” [1996]
3.27 Election Information, 1996-2000
3.28 Donor cards. Bill Miles Campaign Fund, undated  Scope and Content With annotated responses by donors
4.1 Form letters to constituents, 1997-2005
4.2 Cards. Returned to Bill Miles with annotations by constituents, undated
4.3 Bill Miles Campaigns, 1995-1999
4.4 Bill Miles Campaigns, 2003-2006
4.5 Business card. “Bill Miles, Chairman Transportation, District 21,” undated
4.6 Mississippi House Democratic Leadership Victory Political Action Committee (VPAC), undated
4.7 Billy McCoy, 2003-2012  Scope and Content Material related to Mississippi Speaker of the House Billy McCoy, including public remarks prepared by Bill Miles for McCoy’s use. Also includes items related to 2012 dedication of the Billy McCoy MDOT Administration Building.
4.8 Mississippi Legislature, 1997-2000  Scope and Content Correspondence, bills, and other documents related to legislation.
4.9 Printed Material for Various Mississippi Politicians, circa 1990s-2000s  Scope and Content Material related to Mississippi legislators Ricky Cummings, David Gibbs, Harvey Moss, and Pat Montgomery as well as Grenada Chancery Clerk Reta Holden.
4.10 Biographical Information on Bill Miles, undated
4.11 Bill Miles Articles on Iona Gates Murder Trial, circa 1958
4.12 Bill Miles Articles on 1962 Integration of the University of Mississippi, 1962, 1972
4.13 Captions for Bill Miles Photographs of 1962 Integration of the University of Mississippi, circa 2012
4.14 Office of Law Enforcement Assistance Grant Report on “How to Gain & Hold Public Confidence through Effective Communication,” 1968  Scope and Content Report prepared by Bill Miles as Director of the Department of Law Enforcement Research at Itawamba Junior College.
4.15 University of Mississippi Journalism Department, 1984-1990  Scope and Content Includes correspondence and reports related to the Advisory Committee to the UM Journalism Department.
4.16 Itawamba Community College, Community Development Fund Grant, 1994-1995  Scope and Content Grant concerned with the college’s Computer Integrated Manufacturing Center and Northeast Mississippi furniture manufacturing.
4.17 American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), 2000-2002
4.18 Itawamba Community College Alumni Association, 2005-2006  Scope and Content Documents dating from Miles’s term as president.
4.19 Glen H. Davidson Portrait Unveiling, 2008  Scope and Content Items related to unveiling of portrait of U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson in Aberdeen, Mississippi.
4.20 Political Campaigns of Family Members, undated  Scope and Content Material related to grandson Matt Cox’s election as 6th grade reporter and son Skip Miles’ campaign for Alderman at Large.
Box 5: Plaques, Scrapbooks, and Journals
Plaque. “Itawamba Community College Recognizes Bill Miles For His Outstanding Assistance with Our Health Science Education Building Project 2011-2013.”
Plaque. “32nd Annual Law Enforcement Officers Convention Gold Tournament 1986, 1st Place Presented to Bill Miles & Wayne McCarty.”
Bill Miles Scrapbook 1, 1995-1998  Scope and Content Contains newspaper clippings, photographs, and ephemera related to Miles’s election to and service in the Mississippi House of Representatives.
Bill Miles Scrapbook 2, 2000-2003  Scope and Content Contains newspaper clippings, photographs, and ephemera related to Miles’s election to and service in the Mississippi House of Representatives.
Bill Miles Journal 1, 5 January 1999-31 March 2003  Scope and Content Contains handwritten entries by Miles during his tenure in the Mississippi House of Representatives.
Bill Miles Journal 2, 31 March 2003-12 August 2004  Scope and Content Contains handwritten entries by Miles during his tenure in the Mississippi House of Representatives.
Box 6: Recordings Open to Researchers  Access Restrictions Please note: Researchers wishing access to the original recordings must contact Special Collections at least two business days prior to a visit.
Cassette tape. Label on tape: “Waterway Opening Rice & Collins 21:50.”
Cassette tape. Label on tape: “Jimmy Caldwell for Mayor Jingle (needs disclaimer from reel to reel).”
VHS tape. Box label: “1. ICDC Slide Show; 2. Super Salless; 3. Tupelo Tourist Slide; 4. Elvis Tourist Slide; 5. Tupelo World’s Fair; 6. Corinth Worlds Fair; 7. Whitten.”
VHS tape. Box label: “1995 CDF Video” (Tupelo, MS: Bill Miles Associates). Tape label: “The Magic Continues, CDF 1995.”
VHS tape. Box label: “Jim Roberts’ 1st Round of Spots.”
VHS tape. Tape label: “Steve Holland 1997.”
VHS tape. Box label: “Jamie L. Whitten Documentary, Prepared for 10-31-91, Office Copy, Produced by Bill Miles” (Tupelo, MS: Bill Miles Associates). Tape label: “Jamie Whitten Tape 4.”
VHS tape. Tape label: “Interview 1-4-00, WCBI, Bill Miles.”
VHS tape. Box label: “Redo to Super Feb 6 Representative.” Tape label: “Bill Miles.”
VHS tape. Tape label: “Election Night WTVA 1991 – WTM on It.”
VHS tape. Box label: “Litter Critter, Produced by Bill Miles for MDOT.”
VHS tape. Tape label: Jamie L. Whitten Documentary, Bill Miles Produced.”
VHS tape. Box label: “12-29-98, Ch. 9, Interview.” Tape label: “12-29-98 Interview Ch. 9.”
VHS tape. Box label: “9-19-98 Interview by Grady Daundron” and “Channel 38 Interview 9-19-98 with Grady Daundron, 12-14-98.”
VHS tape: Box label: “Produced & Coordinated by Bill Miles.” Tape label: “‘4-Lane All the Way…Today,’ U.S. Highway 78 Grand Opening August 6, 1994; MDOT, Zack Stewart, Northern District Transportation Commissioner, Videotaped by the Electronic Playground – Tupelo, MS” and “‘4-Lage all the Way…Today,’ MDOT, 41 minutes.”
VHS tape. Program “Highways and Transportation” on the Mississippi Public Broadcasting series Quorum, 2 March 2006
VHS tape. Program “Highways & Transportation Committees” on Mississippi Public Broadcasting series Quorum, 23 February 2005
VHS tape. Container label: “Tupelo World Fair Video” (Tupelo, MS: Bill Miles Associates, Inc.)
CD-R disc. Disc label: “Mr. Miles Announcement.”
Box 7: Recordings Closed to Researchers until Digital Access Copies are Available
Audio reel-to-reel. Label on box: “Jimmy Caldwell for Mayor, 2 – 30 sec cuts with disclaimer, April 25, 1985; Tape ‘A’” (Tupelo, MS: Big Thicket Broadcasting Company of Mississippi). Label on reel: “Jimmie Caldwell for Mayor 2 30 sec spots.”
Audio reel-to-reel. Label on box: “Billy Bowles, 2 @ 60” (Tupelo, MS: WSYE)
Audio reel-to-reel. (Meridian, MS: ZQ105)
Audio reel-to-reel. Box label: “Wamy” (Meridian, MS: ZQ105)
Audio reel-to-reel. Box label: “D.W. Snyder; TV & Radio; 1. TV Take 1; 2. TV Take 2; 3. Radio; 4. TV or Radio; Only #4 has last sentence “We need D.W. Snyder…now more than ever.” This could be chopped for Radio to leave a time of :26. I5IPS.”
Audio reel-to-reel. Box label: “D.W. Snyder 2 Spots.”
Audio reel-to-reel. Box label: “Billy Bowles; Tape 1; 1. With music (use this one); 2. Without music; Return to Bill Miles.”
Audio reel-to-reel. Box label: “William E. ‘Billy’ Bowles; 2X :30 Sec. spots; with music & voice only; talent = Jack Parnell; 7 ½ I.P.S. Heads Out; Master; No Disclaimer; 1995; Ed Stanford 95.3.”
Audio reel-to-reel. Box label: “Spot 1 Zack Has a Plan…Use Taxes Already Being Collected; Spot 2 It’s Time We Got Our Hwy. Dept. Out of Politics…Black Voice; Spot 3 Black Voice…All Across North Ms. People Are Saying Change; Spot 4 Who Is Zack Stewart; Spot 5 Black Man Dialogue About Who’s Running for Hwy. Commissioner and Bobby Richardson Switching; Spot 6 Same as #5 Except It’s a White Voice and a Black Voice; Spot 7 It’s Time to Get Our Hwy. Dept. Out of Politics; Spot 8 All Across N. Miss…Change.”
Audio reel to reel. Box label: “Ted Foster for State Representative, Radio, 1. Vote, 2. Leadership, 2:60s, 71/2 ips, stereo, heads (Salute My Boots Dubbing Service)
8mm Film. Container label: “Roy Black1967 Lt. Gov. Campaign.”
Two 16mm Film. Container label: “Roy Black 1967 Lt. Gov. Campaign” with audio reel for sound to be synced with film.
¾” Umatic tape. Container label: “MS. Public Service Commission, Walter Sillers State Office Bldg., P.O. Box 1174, Jackson, MS. 39215” (WMCTV 5).
¾” Umatic tape. Container label: “ICC Video ¾ “ revised 3-1-89” (Tupelo, MS: Bill Miles Associates, Inc.)
¾” Umatic tape. Container label: “Silver Award.” Tape label: “Litter Quitter Campaign, Bill Miles Associates, Inc."
¾” Umatic tape. Container label: “Fulton Audio Visual, 11 Minutes, ¾.”
¾” Umatic tape. Container label: “Jamie Whitten.” Tape label: “S65, Tape Z, Tape #4.”