April 9, 2019
Kristina Smith
Marketing Committee chairman
American Presidents Film & Literary Festival
Fremont, OH 43420
800-998-7737, ext. 217
ksmith@rbhayes.org
Author of book about White House staff to be a keynote speaker at film, literary festival
FREMONT, Ohio – The author of a book about the stories and influence of African-American White House staff members will be the keynote speaker at the second annual American Presidents Film & Literary Festival this fall.
Adrian Miller, author of “The President’s Kitchen Cabinet: The story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families, from the Washingtons to the Obamas,” will speak during the Red Carpet Event on Saturday, Oct. 5, at The Strand Concert Theater in downtown Fremont.
Miller will share fascinating stories of the White House cooks, stewards, butlers, and other staff and their relationships with the First Families. His book gives an inside look at life in the White House and the people who kept it running smoothly.
He will give the keynote during a weekend of independent film screenings that focus on the themes of people, places, politics and power; talks by authors and historians; and other special events. A full schedule will be posted americanpresidentsfilmfestival.org.
Miller is a food writer, attorney and certified barbecue judge who lives in Denver, Colorado. He also is the executive director of the Colorado Council of Churches and, as such, is the first African-American and the first layperson to have that position.
Miller previously served as a special assistant to President Bill Clinton on the Initiative for One America—the first free-standing office in the White House to address issues of racial, religious and ethnic reconciliation. He also served as a senior policy analyst for Colorado governor Bill Ritter Jr.
Miller received a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Stanford University in 1991, and a doctor of jurisprudence degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1995.
He has been a board member of the Southern Foodways Alliance. Miller’s first book, “Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time” won the James Beard Foundation Award for Scholarship and Reference in 2014.
His second book, “The President’s Kitchen Cabinet” was published on Presidents’ Day 2017. It was a finalist for a 2018 NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Literary Work—Non-Fiction” and the 2018 Colorado Book Award for History.
In 2018, Miller was awarded the Ruth Fertel “Keeper of the Flame Award” by the Southern Foodways Alliance in recognition of his work on African American foodways.
In 2019, he received the Judge Henry N. and Helen T. Graven award from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, for being “an outstanding layperson whose life is nurtured and guided by a strong sense of Christian calling and who is making a significant contribution to the community, church, and our society.”
Miller is currently working on a history of African-American barbecue, tentatively titled “Black Smoke.”
The American Presidents Film & Literary Festival is organized by the Liberty and Learning Foundation, Fremont City Schools, Birchard Public Library, Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, and Downtown Fremont.
The festival is committed to providing a place for an expanded national and international understanding of the history and current events that have and continue to shape and influence the President of the United States. Utilizing the site and community of America’s first presidential library and museum, filmmakers, film professionals, and authors will inspire audiences to explore, understand, critique and analyze the people, places, politics, and power surrounding the American Presidency.
For information, visit americanpresidentsfilmfestival.org and follow on Facebook at @ampresfilmlit and Twitter at @film_american.
—
Kristina Smith
Marketing/communications manager
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums
Spiegel Grove
Fremont, OH 43420
800-998-7737, ext. 217
www.rbhayes.org
Facebook: fb.me/rbhayespres
Twitter: @rbhayespres
Instagram: rbhayespres