Kelly Miller (July 18, 1863 – December 29, 1939) was an American mathematician, sociologist, essayist, newspaper columnist, author, and an important figure in the intellectual life of black America for close to half a century. He was known as "the Bard of the Potomac". Early life and education Kelly Miller was the third of six children born to Elizabeth Miller and Kelly Miller Sr. His mother was a former slave and his father was a freed black man who was conscripted into the Winnsboro Regiment of the Confederate Army. Miller was born in Winnsboro, South Carolina, where he would attend local primary and grade school. From 1878–1880, Miller attended the Fairfield Institute. Based on his achievements, he was offered a scholarship to Howard University, a historically black college. Miller finished the preparatory department's three-year curriculum in Latin and Greek, then mathematics, in two years. After finishing one department, he quickly moved on to the next one. Miller attended the College Department at Howard from 1882 to 1886. In 1886, Miller was given the opportunity to study advanced mathematics with Captain Edgar Frisby. Frisby was an English mathematician working at the US Naval Observatory. Frisby's assistant, Simon Newcomb, noticed Miller's intellectual ability and recommended that he study at Johns Hopkins University. Miller spent the following two years at Johns Hopkins University (1887-1889) and became the first African-American student to attend the university. Miller studied mathematics, physics, and astronomy. He was the first African American to study graduate mathematics in the United States. Miller was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Career Unable to continue attending Johns Hopkins University due to financial limitations, Miller taught mathematics at the M Street High School in Washington, D.C. from 1889 to 1890. Appointed professor of mathematics at Howard in 1890, Miller introduced sociology (the development, structure, and functioning of human society) into the curriculum in 1895, serving as professor of sociology from 1895 to 1934. Miller graduated from Howard University School of Law in 1903. In 1907, Miller was appointed dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. His deanship lasted twelve years, and in that time, the college changed significantly. The old classical curriculum was modernized and new courses in the natural sciences and the social sciences were added. Miller was an avid supporter of Howard University and actively recruited students to the school. In 1914, he planned a Negro-American Museum and Library.