The Honolulu Community-Media Council (HCMC) was established in 1970 and is the oldest of the three volunteer media councils in the United States today. The Council is composed of individuals from the community and media and is a non-partisan, non-profit, non-governmental independent group. It seeks to improve public access to information, strengthen public support for First Amendment rights and freedoms, broaden public understanding ofthe role ofthe media, and promote accurate and fair journalism in Hawaii.

HCMC engages and educates the public on freedom of information (FOI) and open access issues through activities such as monthly luncheon programs and discussions; special public forums on FOI and media topics; annual FOI Celebrations; and sponsorship of an FOI public hotline.

Doris "Dodie" Miller was the "First Lady of the Law School" at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, assisting the Dean, her husband Richard Miller. In 1986, they established the Law School's first faculty exchange program with the law faculty at Hiroshima University in Japan. She was involved in the activities of the Honolulu Community-Media Council along with her husband and was stalwart in its development. The Archives was named in her honor in order to perpetuate the memory of her significant contributions to the work of the Council and to freedom of information for all.