William McElwee Miller papers

William McElwee Miller was a Presbyterian missionary and author who served in Persia from 1919 to 1962. He was born in Middlesboro, Kentucky in 1892 to a family with a history of serving as Presbyterian ministers. He attended Washington and Lee University in 1908 and received his Master's degree in 1913. He was greatly inspired by the missionary work of men such as Samuel Marinus Zwemmer, Robert Elliott Speer, and John Raleigh Mott, who spoke at the Northfield Mission Conference in Northfield, Massachusetts in 1912 and the Student Volunteer Movement convention in Kansas City, Missouri in 1913.

After working as an English teacher for the Marion Institute in Alabama, Miller attended Princeton Theological Seminary 1914 to 1918 and was ordained in 1916 by the Lexington Presbytery of the Synod of Virginia. He also worked as a travelling secretary for the Young Men's Christian Association. Upon graduation, he sailed to Meshed, Persia as a missionary for the Presbyterian Church in the USA and began his work there in 1919.

Miller spent his first year in Tehran studying the Persian language. He then relocated to Meshed in 1920 and was based there until 1932. During this time he performed various duties related to the establishment of Christianity in the region as well as the evangelism, education and support of local converts. He also wrote several books, the most controversial of which was The Baha'i Faith; Its History and Teachings. Throughout his career, he returned to the United States intermittently where raised his family and gave speeches. In 1932, he was transferred back to Tehran where he would work until 1953. In Tehran he worked as a pastor and founded the School of Evangelism outside of the city. Between 1952 and 1962 he worked in Tabriz, Resht and Tehran again until his retirement.

Miller returned to the United States in late 1962 and lived with his family in Mount Airy region of Philadelphia. He continued to write books related to Christianity and the Middle East. He also held leadership positions for several organizations related to evangelical work in the Middle East – particularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He died on July 7, 1993 in Philadelphia.