Family Roots in the Season of Light: The Millers

By me: Amelia Miller

I never imagined how powerful it would feel to look backwards, to the people who lived long before I was born, shaping pieces of who I am without me even knowing.

As I begin learning the stories of my family — their art, their architecture, their words, their courage — something inside me has shifted. It made me realize that my dream for the future is deeply connected to the people who built the path I’m walking. It feels like discovering the missing pages of a book I’ve been living in my whole life.

I learned that you really shouldn't lose yourself or forget the traditions your parents give you.  I am so glad I speak Polish and that I grew up the way that I did.  It truly is like being part of another world. 

Remembering the little girl who grew up speaking Polish, celebrating Wigilia, eating the meals my parents cooked with their whole heart.  They were the purest part of my childhood. 

I love looking at my family history and my roots. My fathers side, the Millers side is below. Both of my parents were born in Poland and met in America. 

Some of The Millers that came before me: My grandfather, my great-great grandfather, my great uncle.

Romuald Miller 

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romuald_Miller

Architect, visionary, creator of buildings and spaces that still stand in Poland today.

Romuald Miller was a Polish architect whose work shaped parts of early 20th-century Poland. His designs were more than buildings — they were expressions of order, beauty, and the desire to build something lasting during a rapidly changing world.

Highlights from his life:

• Architect active in the early 1900s

• Designed civic buildings, residential spaces, and transportation structures

• Associated with intellectual and social organizations of the time

• Known for thoughtful, functional, long-lasting design

Book you can purchase on his work:

https://centrumarchitektury.org/produkt/w-strone-modernizmu-architekt-romuald-miller/

Jan Nepomucen Miller — The Literary Soul of the Family

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Nepomucen_Miller

Studied in Petersburg, Berlin and The Sorbonne.

Jan Nepomucen Miller was the writer in the family — a poet, critic, and thoughtful observer of the world around him. Active in Łódź and Warsaw’s cultural circles, he wrote poetry, theatre critiques, and essays that reflected a deep understanding of Polish life and art.

Where others built with stone or structure, Jan built with words. His writing carried sensitivity, intelligence, and a quiet strength — the kind that shapes culture in subtle but lasting ways.

He also represents the creative, reflective heartbeat of the Miller heritage, reminding me that family legacy isn’t only found in buildings or history books, but in the stories and ideas passed down through generations. 

His books and essays can also be found online. 

Krzysztof Kazimierz Miller (- 1919 to 2006) was the builder who quietly carried the family legacy forward into the modern world. Born in Łódź and educated at the Faculty of Architecture of the Warsaw University of Technology (1952), he devoted his life to shaping the spaces in which communities live, work, and connect.  

As an architect and urban planner, his work includes the 1956 general and detailed plan of the industrial-port district of Żerań in Warsaw, as well as the settlement network study for the Bydgoszcz region prior to 1965.  

His professional dedication earned him recognition: the Golden Cross of Merit, the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, and other honors for his enduring contributions.  

For me, his life is a testament: the foundations laid by those who came before helped create the home—and the journey—I walk today.