William A. White
Encyclopedia
Portia White
Portia May White , was a singer who achieved international fame because of her voice and stage presence. As a Black Canadian, her popularity helped to open previously closed doors for talented blacks who followed....
.
He was born to former slaves
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
in King and Queen County
King and Queen County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,630 people, 2,673 households, and 1,897 families residing in the county. The population density was 21 people per square mile . There were 3,010 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. He came to Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
in 1900 after a Canadian school teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
in Baltimore, Maryland impressed him with descriptions of the province. He pictured this land as his key to freedom. He became the second black man accepted by Acadia University
Acadia University
Acadia University is a predominantly undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada with some graduate programs at the master's level and one at the doctoral level...
and the first to be later honoured with a Doctorate of Divinity. Rev. White graduated from Acadia in 1903 with an arts degree in Theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, was ordained a minister, and spent the next two years as a travelling missionary for the African Baptist Churches of Nova Scotia.
Rev. White met and married Izie Dora White (coincidentally she had the same last name) of Mill Village, Nova Scotia
Mill Village, Nova Scotia
Mill Village is a Canadian rural community in the Region of Queens Municipality, Nova Scotia.Located inland from the Atlantic coast, Mill Village was the site of Canada's first satellite earth station constructed in the 1960s...
and together they raised a family of thirteen children. One of their children, Portia White, grew to become a world famous singer. Another, Bill Jr.
Bill White (Canadian politician)
William Andrew White, III, OC was a Canadian composer and social justice activist, who was the first Black Canadian to run for federal office in Canada.-1949 federal election:...
, became the first Black Canadian
Black Canadian
'Black Canadians is a designation used for people of Black African descent, who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The term specifically refers to Canadians with Sub-Saharan African ancestry. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin...
to run for federal political office in Canada when he stood as a candidate for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...
in the 1949 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1949
The Canadian federal election of 1949 was held on June 27 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 21st Parliament of Canada. It was the first election in Canada in almost thirty years in which the Liberal Party of Canada was not led by William Lyon Mackenzie King. King had...
. A third, Jack
Jack White (politician)
Jack White was a Canadian labour union activist. He was the first elected black representative of the Ironworkers, and one of the first CUPE national staff representatives from a minority background....
, was a noted Canadian labour union activist and the second black candidate to run for office in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
.
In 1916, Rev. White enlisted in the No. 2 Construction Battalion
No. 2 Construction Battalion
The No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force , was the only all-black battalion in Canadian military history and also the only one to serve in World War I. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel D.H. Sutherland, formerly of the 193rd Battalion, CEF, all but one of the unit's 19 officers...
, an all black segregated unit serving in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He was the only black chaplain in the entire British Army and was a commissioned officer serving with the rank of Captain. Following the war Rev. White returned home to Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
and was called to Cornwallis Street Baptist Church, a position he held for over 17 years. During the early 1930s, his services were broadcast over the radio every month, and they were heard throughout the Maritimes.
Rev. White died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in September 1936.
His grandchildren include Senator Donald Oliver
Donald Oliver
Donald H. Oliver, QC is a Canadian Senator.A lawyer and developer, Oliver is a member of Nova Scotia's Black minority. He is the nephew of Canadian opera singer Portia White, politician Bill White and labour union activist Jack White, and the cousin of political strategist Sheila White...
, politician and activist Sheila White
Sheila White (politician)
Sheila White is a Canadian political activist and a member of the New Democratic Party. She has run for office unsuccessfully five times, to date, in Toronto, Canada....
and folk musician Chris White
Chris White
Chris White or Christopher White may refer to:*Chris White , British jazz/rock saxophonist*Chris White , bassist and songwriter with The Zombies*Chris White , jazz bassist...
. The novelist and playwright George Elliott Clarke
George Elliott Clarke
George Elliott Clarke, OC is a Canadian poet and playwright. His work largely explores and chronicles the experience and history of the Black Canadian community of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, creating a cultural geography that Clarke refers to as "Africadia".-Life:Born to William and Geraldine...
is his great-grandson.