Rosemary Reed Miller

Rosemary Reed Miller (June 22, 1939 – August 2, 2017) was the owner of Toast and Strawberries, a landmark boutique in Washington, DC. She was also a published author on African-American dressmakers from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries.

Rosemary Reed Miller
Born
Rosemary Reed Miller

(1939-06-22)June 22, 1939
Yeadon, Pennsylvania
DiedAugust 2, 2017(2017-08-02) (aged 78)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationTemple University
OccupationBusiness Owner, Historian
Spouse(s)Paul E. Miller (1935–1974), married until his death[1]
Partner(s)John Howard
ChildrenPaul “DJ Spooky”,[2] Sabrina

Biography

Rosemary Reed Miller was born in Yeadon, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Byron and Eloise Miller. She graduated from Temple University. She became a press reporter in Jamaica and Puerto Rico. She did freelance work for the Washington Post, Washington Star, Afro-American Newspapers, Miami Herald, and the Amsterdam News.[3]

In the 1960s, Miller was an informational officer for the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. and part-time jewelry accessory designer.[4]

In 1967, Miller opened Toast and Strawberries as a wholesale showroom for various fashion and jewelry designers, and “to pay the bills,” transformed the showroom to a retail boutique. The store featured emerging and established designers from around the world. According to Miller, "we felt it was important to show that talent had no limits - male, female, white and black."[5] Clients included singer Aretha Franklin and actress Heather Locklear.[6]

In August 1974, Black Enterprise Magazine profiled Miller in an issue focused on Black Women in Business and Public Life, noting that the D.C. retail operations had generated $190,000 in annual sales in 1973.[4]

Through the years, Miller promoted designers through various community fashion shows. For example, in 1974, Miller participated in the National Council of Negro Women's 8th annual fashion show. In 1979, Toast and Strawberries fashions were showcased before 500 quests at the D.C. chapter of the American War Mothers annual fundraising fashion show.[7] Toast and Strawberries developed a program to educate others about the history of African-American women in dressmaking and designing and to demonstrate how the craft assisted as a venue for economic support and potential independence.[5]

The boutique, which became a local landmark, closed in 2005, in part because of increasing rent.[6] She died on August 2, 2017 in her home in Washington DC.[8]

Awards
  • 1981: "Small Business Person of the Year" for Washington, D.C. by the U.S. Small Business Administration.[9]

Publications

Private life

She married the dean of Howard University School of Law Paul Miller, who died suddenly in 1974 at the age of 38.[3][1]. She is the mother of musician and author Paul Miller, known professionally as DJ Spooky.

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References
  1. Times, Special To The New York (July 16, 1974). "Prof. Paul E. Miller Dead; Ex‐Dean of Howard Law, 38". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  2. Beckman, Rachel (February 7, 2008). "From Hip-Hop's Paul D. Miller: New York City, Remixed". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  3. "Rosemary E. Reed Miller". Mcguire-services.com. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  4. Graves, Earl G. (August 1974). "Making It: The $190,000 Storefront". Black Enterprise. Earl G. Graves, Ltd.: 13. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  5. Reed Miller, Rosemary E (2006). Threads of time: the fabric of history : profiles of African American dressmakers and designers, 1850–2002. T & S Press. ISBN 0970971303. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  6. Barbaro, Michael; Chediak, Mark (August 10, 2005). "Fixture of Dupont Retail to Close". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  7. Company, Johnson Publishing (May 23, 1974). "The Washington Scene". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  8. Elasfar, Dara (August 20, 2017). "Rosemary Reed Miller, Washington boutique owner, dies at 78". Washington Post. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  9. Johnson Publishing, Company (June 4, 1981). "People". Jet Magazine. Johnson Publishing Company: 24. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
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