George Henry White

George Henry White (born December 18, 1852 in Rosindale , Bladen County , North Carolina , † December 28, 1918 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ) was an American politician . Between 1897 and 1901 he represented the state of North Carolina in the US House of Representatives .

Career

The African American George White was born a free citizen in 1852. After the Civil War he attended the public schools of his home country and studied at Howard University in Washington, DC until 1877. After completing a law degree and being admitted to the bar in 1879, he began to work in this profession in New Bern (North Carolina). In the meantime he also directed the New Bern State Normal School , a training school for future African American teachers. Politically, White was a member of the Republican Party . In 1881 he became a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives ; In 1885 he was elected to the State Senate. Between 1886 and 1894 he served as a public prosecutor in the second judicial district of his state. In the years 1896 and 1900 White was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions , at each of which William McKinley was nominated as a presidential candidate.

In the congressional elections of 1896 he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington in the second constituency of North Carolina, where he succeeded the Democrat Frederick Augustus Woodard , whom he had defeated in the election, on March 4, 1897 . After being re-elected, he was able to complete two legislative terms in Congress until March 3, 1901 . These were shaped by the events of the Spanish-American War . In Congress, White was particularly committed to the concerns of his African-American compatriots. Among other things, he brought in a bill against lynching, which was then often practiced in the south .

After the electoral laws in his home country had been changed to the disadvantage of African-Americans and they were increasingly intimidated, George White decided not to run again in 1900. After leaving the US House of Representatives, he returned to work as a lawyer; he also went into banking. He was a board member of the National Afro-American Council, founded in 1898 . From 1906 he lived in Philadelphia. He died there on December 28, 1918.

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personal data
SURNAME	White, George Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician
DATE OF BIRTH	December 18, 1852
PLACE OF BIRTH	Rosindale , North Carolina
DATE OF DEATH	December 28, 1918
Place of death	Philadelphia , Pennsylvania