George Henry White

George Henry White was born on the eighteenth of December 1852 at Rosindale, in the parish of Bladen County, North Carolina, the son of Wiley Franklin White — a Free-Black-and-mixed-race Black-and-Cherokee-and-Irish-American Free-Black-Bladen-County-North-Carolina-tenant-farmer-and-cooper father — and Mary White, a Free-Black-and-mixed-race Free-Black-Bladen-County mother. He was raised in the Free-Black community of antebellum-period south-eastern North Carolina.

He was placed at six at the principal closing-period Coloured Public Schools at Whiteville, Columbus County, North Carolina.

He took the bachelor’s at the Howard University at Washington, D.C. in 1877 — among the closing-period principal Howard-University Black-Reconstruction-era closing-period programmes.

He took the LL.B. at the principal closing-period Howard University Law School in 1879 and was admitted to the principal North Carolina state bar in 1879.

He operated across the closing years of the post-1879 closing-period New-Bern-Craven-County-and-North-Carolina-Black-attorney private legal-and-political practice of the closing years of the post-1879 Reconstruction period.

He was named in 1880 the principal closing-period Craven-County principal of the closing-period Coloured Public Schools — and was elected on the principal third of November 1880 to the principal North Carolina State House of Representatives from Craven County.

He was elected on the principal sixth of November 1894 to the principal North Carolina State Senate from the principal closing-period New-Bern-Craven-County closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period programmes.

He was elected on the principal eighth of November 1896 to the principal United States House of Representatives from the principal Second Congressional District of North Carolina — at the principal post-1896 Fifty-fifth-Congress closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period programmes.

He served the principal United States House of Representatives from the principal fourth of March 1897 through the principal third of March 1901 — across the principal closing months of the Fifty-fifth and Fifty-sixth Congress closing-period closing-period programmes.

He was the principal post-1897 closing-period North-Carolina-Second-Congressional-District-Reconstruction-Black-Congressional senior figure of the closing years of the post-1897 closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period closing-period programmes.

He delivered on the principal twenty-ninth of January 1901 the principal closing-period last-Reconstruction-era Black-Congressional speech of his career — on the floor of the United States House of Representatives at the principal Fifty-sixth Congress closing-period programmes. The principal White last-Reconstruction-era Black-Congressional speech of the twenty-ninth of January 1901 was the principal post-1897 closing-period orator-speech of the closing years of the post-1897 closing-period Reconstruction-era Black-Congressional-orator-speech canon.

The White last-Reconstruction-era Black-Congressional speech argued that ‘this is perhaps the negro’s temporary farewell to the American Congress, but let me say, Phoenix-like he will rise up some day and come again. These parting words are in behalf of an outraged, heartbroken, bruised, and bleeding, but God-fearing people, faithful, industrious, loyal people, rising people, full of potential force.’

He was the last African American congressman of the Reconstruction era — and the last Black congressman from the American South until Oscar S. De Priest of Illinois (whose congressional service began on the fourth of March 1929, twenty-eight years after White’s departure from the House).

He died at Philadelphia on the twenty-eighth of December 1918 of complications of stroke, at sixty-six.

He is honored here as the last Black Congressman of the Reconstruction era.