[2] A graduate of Vassar College, Miller moved to Los Angeles in the early 1880s with her husband, the Rev.Patrick William Dorsey, who had accepted a position as minister of the First Baptist Church.In 1894, while she was still teaching at Los Angeles High School, her husband left her and their young son Paul Howard Dorsey.[2] In 1937 she spoke to the prohibitionist Women's Law Observance Association and denounced realist literature that dealt with or included "the seamy things of life".[3] In 1937, Susan Miller Dorsey High School in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles was dedicated in her honor.