Leon Parker Miller was an American lawyer, politician, and judge who achieved historic milestones in the legal system of West Virginia. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1899, Miller grew up in Roanoke, Virginia. He pursued his higher education at North Carolina A&T State College before attending the University of Pennsylvania Law School, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1922.\n\nMiller began his legal career in Williamson, West Virginia, in 1922, before relocating to Welch, West Virginia, in 1924. There, he co-founded a law firm alongside prominent figures Harry J. Capehart and Arthur G. Froe. Over the following decades, Miller dedicated himself to public service, serving as the assistant prosecuting attorney for McDowell County from 1928 to 1936 and as a member of the Welch city council from 1944 to 1948.\n\nIn 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Miller as the United States Attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands, a role he held until 1962. After returning to private practice in Welch, Miller made history in 1968 when he was appointed as the first African-American judge in West Virginia. Later that year, he secured his legacy by winning election as a write-in candidate for judge of the criminal court, making him the state's first elected African-American judge. He retired from the bench in 1972 and practiced law until his death in 1980.
