Dovie (Bridges) Miller (1882 - 1974)

Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Dovie's lifetime.

In 1882, in the year that Dovie (Bridges) Miller was born, on March 22nd, the Edmunds Act - passed by Congress - made polygamy a felony. The Act also banned "bigamous" relationships and "unlawful cohabitation", making it illegal for polygamists and those who simply lived together without marrying to vote, be on a jury, or hold a public office.

In 1905, when she was 23 years old, the first movie theater opened in the United States in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first theater to show nothing but movies - silent films. Two men, John P. Harris and his brother-in-law Harry Davis, opened the Nickelodeon on Smithfield Street - charging 5 cents for admission. The first day, 450 people watched movies at the new theater - on the second day, more than 1500 people stood in line to get in.

In 1929, at the age of 47 years old, Dovie was alive when on March 4th, Herbert Hoover became the 31st President of the United States. Early in his presidency, the October stock market crash - "Black Tuesday" - occurred, which lead to the Great Depression. None of his economic policies were able to make a dent in the Depression. This lead to one term and the election of Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt winning the 1933 election in a landslide.

In 1954, by the time she was 72 years old, on May 17th, the Supreme Court released a decision on Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. The ruling stated that state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students was unconstitutional thus paving the way for integration in schools.

In 1974, in the year of Dovie (Bridges) Miller's passing, on February 5th, Patty Hearst, age 19 - granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst and daughter of publisher of the San Francisco Examiner Randolph Hearst - was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army, a left wing terrorist group. She was found, alive, 19 months later.