Tom Miller Collection

CAS.2014.01.PIC.01

Eldred Thomas Miller also known as Tom, was a Texas Archaeologist who lived a long and productive life. For most of his younger years Tom lived in St. Louis, Missouri where he worked for the US Postal service. During World War II, Tom was drafted into the U.S. Army and served many years after the war in the Army reserve from 1947 — 1956. After his retirement from the US Postal service in 1971, Tom moved out to Kerrville Texas. For his passion of history, Tom joined the Texas Archaeological Society (TAS) and started his career in archaeology. Tom was well known for his nearly perfect flat excavation floors and walls earning him the name "Table Top Tom". In addition, Tom was known for his extraordinary field notes that served as a model for archaeological documents. During the mid—seventies, Tom was offered a position at the Center of Archaeological Research (CAR) at the University of Texas at San Antonio. In the later years of his archaeological career, Tom worked for the Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory (TARL) at the University of Texas, but he continued to volunteer on archaeological projects well into his 90's. Tom's Achievements during in his career as an archaeologist including a Lifetime Archaeological contribution award from the Hill country Archaeological Association and a lifetime Achievement Award from the STAA.

Tom Miller passed away on November 3, 2011 though his legacy lives on. After Tom's passing, his collection was bequeathed to Dr. Steve Black an Archaeology Professor at Texas State University. In 2013, Dr. Black donated Tom's collection to the Center for Archaeological Studies (CAS). The collection, named the Miller Collection in Tom's honor, is curated at CAS and will provide learning opportunities for Texas State University students for generations to come. A quote from one of Tom's diaries reads "No one ever really owns the collectibles in one's collection. We are all merely Caretakers for future generations".