#haroldwashington

-- Harold Washington

by Ariel Parrella-Aureli ‘17 @arielparrella & Arabella Breck ‘17, @arabellabreck

Set in marble flooring in the Harold Washington Library are words from former Mayor Washington’s second inaugural address. There is no byline listed, but the writer behind those words can be found more easily than one might expect.

Alton Miller, public relations professor in the Communication Department, helped write the mayor’s second inaugural address when he worked as the press secretary for Mayor Washington.

Miller came to public relations through the arts—theatre, specifically. He started doing public relations work while he was still in high school working at a local theatre. This led to a job at the Arena Stage in Washington D.C., a job with a ballet company; eventually he landed the position of press secretary to the mayor of Chicago.

In his book, “Harold Washington: The Mayor, The Man,” Miller talks about how he made the change from arts to politics. Miller said his experience doing public relations for theatre applied easily to political public relations and suggested young public relations professionals follow a similar path.   

The book was published in 1989 but is omnipresent. With the Chicago Reader’s new article by political critic Ben Joravsky on the discovery of early Washington files and Washington’s 30th anniversary of his death Nov. 25, Miller’s book has even more current significance. Learning about the past can help understand the present and future; using PR to immerse oneself in a passionate cause can lead to projects like Miller’s book.

“Find a nonprofit that you really care about, any cause you care about—in my case it was theater,” Miller said on advice for students.  “Totally engage yourself in it, put everything else aside and throw yourself into it body and soul and you will come out of that experience with a set of skills.”

Miller emphasized the importance of political public relations and said it is an area that has been around for centuries, adding that “as a country we created ourselves with a press release, the Declaration of Independence.”

Political public relations is also important because it sets trends and tones for the field overall. Miller said markers like presidential elections show changes in how things like big data and social media can be used in public relations.

Teaching at Columbia has provided Miller an opportunity to share his experiences and knowledge with students and also get “paid to keep up to date” on what is going on in the field of public relations today, he said. 

“It’s a cliché to say that we learn from our students, but like most clichés, it’s true,” Miller said.  

Miller said students should be excited public relations, especially political public relations, because it provides an opportunity to collaborate with others and create meaningful work.

“You’re the person who is taking this moment and making it, if you will, an eternal moment,” Miller said. “Sometimes it’s hugely important and it could be a declaration of war. It could be legislation that is going to change people’s lives and you are sitting there as the PR person at that juncture of all the different influences and making policy.”

There are many ways that students can engage in public relations, but it is important that they are focused on doing work that is meaningful to themselves and to others, regardless of what area of public relations they go into, noted Miller.