Hattie Mae Whiting White (May 22, 1916 – July 30, 1993) was an American educator and politician. As the first Black member of the Houston Independent School District's board in 1958, she was also the city's first Black elected official in the 20th century.
Hattie Mae Whiting White | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | May 22, 1916 Huntsville, Texas |
| Died | July 30, 1993 (aged 77) Houston, Texas |
| Occupation(s) | Educator, politician |
| Known for | First Black member of the Houston Independent School District board (1958-1967) |
Early life and education
editHattie Mae Whiting was born in Huntsville, Texas,[1] the daughter of David Wendell Whiting and Hattie Gooden Whiting. She was raised in Houston, where she attended Booker T. Washington High School and Houston Colored Junior College,[2] and trained as a teacher at Prairie View State Normal & Industrial College.[3][4]
Career
editWhiting taught school until she married in 1941. She served on the Metropolitan Council of the Houston YWCA, and the Houston Association for Better Schools. In 1958, White was elected to the Houston Independent School District (HISD) board, as its first Black member,[5][6] and as the city's first Black elected official since Reconstruction.[7][8][9]
Despite controversy and violent racist threats,[10] White was outspoken in favor of school desegregation and federal funding programs, and was re-elected in 1961 and 1964.[11] She was defeated for re-election in 1967, and in a run for the Texas legislature in 1968. White returned to schoolwork after her political career, and retired from teaching in 1986.[3] In 1985, she gave an oral history interview to Jon Schwartz, for the documentary This is Our Home It is Not For Sale; the video is now in the audio/video collection of the University of Houston.[12]
White was honored with the Houston YWCA's Lifetime Achievement Award.[3] The HISD administration building was named for her, and the current Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center was named in her memory in 2006.[13]
Personal life
editHattie Whiting married optometrist Charles E. White in 1941. They had five children together.[3] She died in 1993, aged 77 years, in Houston.[1][14]
References
edit- ^ a b Wiseman, Lee Ann (November 6, 2021). "Notable people of Walker County: Hattie Mae Whiting". Itemonline.com. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
- ^ "Teachers of Tomorrow in Training in Texas". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1933-03-11. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-02-21 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d Wintz, Cary D. "White, Hattie Mae Whiting". Texas State Historical Association, Handbook of Texas. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
- ^ Radcliffe, Jennifer (2011-02-14). "Black History Month profile: Elected official Hattie Mae White". Chron. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
- ^ Kellar, William Henry (1999). Make Haste Slowly: Moderates, Conservatives, and School Desegregation in Houston. Texas A&M University Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-1-60344-718-8.
- ^ "Education: Moderate Victory". Time. 1958-11-17. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
- ^ "The Hattie Mae White Women: They Loomed Large in Our History". HMAAC. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
- ^ Schottenstein, Allison E. (2021-03-15). Changing Perspectives: Black-Jewish Relations in Houston during the Civil Rights Era. University of North Texas Press. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-57441-837-8.
- ^ Wilson, Steven Harmon (2010-07-01). Rise of Judicial Management in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, 1955-2000. University of Georgia Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-8203-2728-0.
- ^ Beeman, Cynthia J. "Hattie Mae White". Women in Texas History. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
- ^ Winegarten, Ruthe; Kahn, Sharon (2010-07-22). Brave Black Women: From Slavery to the Space Shuttle. University of Texas Press. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-292-78555-7.
- ^ Schwartz, Jon (November 10, 1985). "Hattie Mae White interview". University of Houston Libraries Audio/Video Repository. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
- ^ "Central Office". Houston Independent School District. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
- ^ "Obituary for Hattie Mae White (Aged 77)". Times-Advocate. 1993-08-03. p. 12. Retrieved 2022-02-21 – via Newspapers.com.