William Jefferson White

How this work helped shape America

Born free in Georgia in 1831 to a formerly enslaved Black American mother, William Jefferson White built educational institutions across the transition from slavery to freedom. Before the Civil War, he operated secret night schools for Black students. After emancipation, he served as an educational agent of the Freedmen's Bureau and organized additional schools. In 1867 White became a principal founder of Augusta Institute at Springfield Baptist Church. That institution later moved to Atlanta and developed into Morehouse College, extending his educational work into one of the nation's enduring historically Black colleges.