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U T School of law early deans 1902 to 1974

Clarence Miller, 1904-1907

Clarence Heath Miller (1860-1908) was born on March 10, 1860 in Lynchburg, Virginia. He attended Randolph Macon College in Virginia before receiving his M.A.degree from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in 1884. He obtained his LL.B. from the University of Texas in 1886. 

 

Miller and Venable B. Proctor are rumored to have established orange and white as the colors of the first baseball team of the University of Texas in 1885. Traditionally, fans wore colored ribbons to show team loyalty at sporting events. In April 1885, the first University of Texas baseball team, along with its fans, boarded a train for a game at Southwestern University in Georgetown. As the train was ready to leave, two women announced that the fans needed ribbons. Miller and Proctor ran to the nearest store and asked for bolts of ribbon. When asked what colors they wanted, the two hurriedly answered, “Anything!” The shopkeeper gave them white, a popular color that was regularly kept in stock, and orange, which was rarely purchased leaving plenty to spare.

After receiving his LL.B., Miller practiced in New Braunfels, Texas with J. D. Guinn before returning to Austin in 1887. Upon his return, he formed a partnership with Franz Fiset which continued until 1904. During this time, Miller also served as special judge for the Court of Civil Appeals in Austin. In 1895, Miller was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. In March 1904, Miller was elected City Attorney of Austin. The same year, he accepted the position of Professor and Dean of the Faculty of the University of Texas Department of Law. After resigning for the faculty of the University in 1908, Miller returned to private practice.

Miller was a member of the National Bar Association, president of the Ex-Students Association of the University of Texas from 1888 to 1889 and again from 1901 to 1903, chairman of the Special Commission of the Texas Bar Association addressing reforms to civil procedure, and a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity.