Z 2162.000 S
WHITE (JESSE L., SR.) PAPERS


Biography/History:

Jesse L. White was born in Webster County, Mississippi, on June 18, 1886. He was the son of Jackson Parks and Martha Henley White, and he attended school in Webster County. White obtained a teaching license at the age of eighteen, and for the next ten years, he taught in the Webster County public schools. During the summer, White attended classes at Mississippi State Teachers College (later University of Southern Mississippi) and Mississippi State College (later Mississippi State University).

White entered the insurance business in 1921 as a local agent for the Lamar Life Insurance Company in the Starkville-Maben area of Oktibbeha County, Mississippi. He moved to Columbus, Lowndes County, Mississippi, to become a special agent for the Columbus Fire Insurance Company in 1926. Six years later, White became a special agent for the Hartford Fire Insurance Company. He married Marguerite East of Terry, Hinds County, Mississippi, in 1942.

Mississippi governor Thomas Bailey appointed Jesse L. White to fill the unexpired term of state insurance commissioner John Sharp Williams III, who had died in office in 1944, and the Whites moved to Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi. Over the next four years, White served as state insurance commissioner, and he became the father of a son, Jesse L. White, Jr. (b. July 12, 1944). White was elected as Mississippi Insurance Commissioner in 1948. He retired from political life in 1952 to work as an insurance consultant. White later served as manager of Ross Barnetts unsuccessful campaign for Mississippi governor in 1955.

As part of its reorganization plan, directors of the Choctaw Investment Corporation named White as its president in 1957. He was also a member of several fraternal and social organizations, including the Order of the Blue Goose International, an insurance-industry fraternity, the Kiwanis Club, and the Masonic Order. White also served as an honorary colonel on the staff of Mississippi governors Thomas Bailey, Hugh White, and Ross Barnett. He was also a deacon of the First Christian Church in Jackson and a member of the Cooper Road Christian Church in Terry. White died at the age of eighty-three on October 11, 1969, and he was interred at the Terry Cemetery.

Scope and Content:

This collection consists of the correspondence and memorabilia of Jesse L. White, Sr.

The correspondence includes incoming and outgoing business and personal letters primarily written during Whites first term as Mississippi Insurance Commissioner from 1944 to 1948. Topics discussed include Whites appointment as state insurance commissioner, the day-to-day running of this state office, various insurance and land-sale matters, and the birth of Jesse L. White, Jr.

The memorabilia includes commissions, a poster, photographs, newsclippings, a roll of registered white voters by county, and a resolution. There are two commissions signed by Mississippi governors Hugh White and Ross Barnett appointing White as an honorary colonel. The poster (ca. 1947) announces Whites candidacy for the office of state insurance commissioner. The photographs (some annotated) show White at various insurance meetings. The newsclippings primarily concern Whites political and professional career. An undated roll lists the numbers of registered white voters in each Mississippi county. There are two copies of a resolution passed by the Cooper Road Christian Church after Whites death.

Series Identification:

  1. Correspondence. 1941-1948. 33 folders.

    Box 1, folders 4-15
    Box 2, folders 1-12
    Box 3, folders 1-9

  2. Memorabilia. ca. 1947-1969; n.d. 7 folders.

    Box 1, folders 1-3
    Box 4, folders 1-4

Box List:

  • Box 1, folders 1-3: Memorabilia. 1947-1969; n.d.
               folders 4-15: Correspondence. 1941-1948.

  • Box 2, folders 1-12: Correspondence. 1943-1948.

  • Box 3, folders 1-9: Correspondence. 1943-1948.

  • Box 4, folders 1-4: Memorabilia. ca. 1947; 1952; 1960.