Oral History with Bernard Miller

Bernard Miller came to Princeton in 1957 to work at the nearby Radio Corporation of America laboratory after seven years as an active-duty Air Force officer. Prior to arriving in Princeton, Bernard taught engineering at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He worked on classified aerospace projects and later took graduate courses in aeronautical engineering at Princeton University. Bernard served as an elected official between 2002 and 2018, first on the Princeton Township Committee, then as deputy mayor of Princeton Township, township mayor, member of the consolidation study commission, and finally as a member of the consolidated Princeton council. Bernard was involved in discussions about township-borough consolidation dating to the 1970s. He discusses the long history of consolidation efforts and its eventual realization in 2013. In the 1980s, Bernard served on Princeton Township’s affordable housing board. He recalls the township’s role in the completion of the Griggs Farm development. He also describes advocating for the construction of Community Park Pool as an elected official. The interview ends with Bernard’s discussion of the challenges of being elderly in Princeton, especially in terms of transportation, and his concern about the limited supply of affordable housing in town.