In 1979, he adopted nine black Girls,
The Man Who Kept His Promise: Richard Miller and the “Miller Nine”
In 1979, Richard Miller, a 34-year-old widower, lived in silence after losing his wife,
Anne, to illness. Before she died,
she’d made him promise: “Don’t let love die with me.
Give it somewhere to go.”
That promise led him, one rainy night, to St. Mary’s Orphanage, where he discovered nine abandoned baby girls,
all dark-skinned and left together with no names.
When told they’d soon be separated, Richard felt Anne’s words echo and said,
“What if someone took them all?” Despite protests, he declared, “I’ll take them.”
Facing poverty and prejudice, Richard sold everything to raise the girls.
He built cribs, worked multiple jobs, and learned every lullaby and braid.
Neighbors called him foolish—but the girls called him Dad.
Decades later, the “Miller Nine” stood beside their frail father for a reunion photo.
“You did it, Dad,” one whispered. Richard smiled through tears. “No—we did it. Love did it.”
