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Title: Frank White
Dates: 1900-1937
Collection Number: 00113
Quantity: 175 items
Abstract: Contains family photos, images of White’s term as Governor with past governors, Valley City, Grand Forks, Bismarck, and Washington, D.C.
Provenance: The donor and date of acquisition of the Frank White Papers by the State Historical Society of North Dakota are unknown.
Property rights: The State Historical Society of North Dakota owns the property rights to the collection.
Copyrights: Copyrights to this collection remain with the donor, publisher, author, or author's heirs. Researchers should consult the 1976 Copyright Act, Public Law 94-553, Title 17, U.S. Code and an archivist in this repository if clarification of copyright requirements is needed.
Access: This collection is open under the rules and regulations of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
Citation: Researchers are requested to cite the collection title, collection number, and the State Historical Society of North Dakota in all footnote and bibliographic references.
Related Collections:
MSS 10106 Frank White
00257 Edwin White Photo Collection
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Frank White was born on December 12, 1856 in Stillman Valley, Illinois. He received a B.S. degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois in 1880, and in 1904 earned a LL.D. from the same institution. He married Elsie Hadley on September 19, 1894. They had one son, Edwin Lee.
White came to North Dakota in 1882 and farmed land bought from the Northern Pacific Railway near Valley City. In 1890, he was elected to the North Dakota House of Representatives and two years later was elected State Senator. White resigned his State Senate seat and sold his farm at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War.
White was commissioned as Major of the 1st North Dakota Volunteer Infantry Regiment and commanded the troops in the Philippines. He participated in numerous engagements and was decorated with the silver star in 1924. In 1899, he returned to North Dakota and bought a farm near Litchville. White later opened a real estate and insurance office.
Frank White was elected Governor of North Dakota in November 1900 and served two terms from 1901 to 1905. During his administration, the state's deficit of $223,000 was eliminated and a sinking fund was created to pay a bonded debt.
White returned to private life in 1905 and organized the Middlewest Fire Insurance Company. He served as its president until 1913 when the company moved its headquarters to Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1914, White organized the Middlewest Trust Company of Valley City. He was president until the outbreak of World War I. White also served as a member of the North Dakota State Board of Regents from 1915 to 1917.
White also served as a colonel during World War I in command of the 2nd North Dakota National Guard Regiment, which later became part of the 41st Infantry Division. He was designated officer in charge of the Army's Department of Rents, Reclamations, and Claims. He returned to Valley City after the war and continued serving as president of the Middlewest Trust Company.
President Harding appointed White as Treasurer of the United States in 1921. He retired in 1928 and assumed the presidency of the Southern Mortgage and Guaranty Corporation of Chattanooga, Tennessee for one year. In 1929, he became president of a new management and investment company, National Assets Corporation. He retired from active business in 1933.
Besides his business activities, White was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Masons, the Knights Templar, and the Congregational Church at Valley City, North Dakota.
Frank White died on March 23, 1940. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. with full military honors.
Sources:
The Sunday Star, March 24, 1940
Bismarck Tribune, March 25, 1940
North Dakota, Lounsberry, 1917, Vol. 1, pp. 420-422.
PHOTOGRAPHS INVENTORY
00113-0001 Major Frank White
00113-0002 Major Frank White
00113-0003 Major Frank White
00113-0004 Major Frank White
00113-0005 Major Frank White was born in this house 1856/12/1
00113-0006 Major Frank White
00113-0007 Major Frank White
00113-0008 Major Frank White
00113-0009 Major Frank White
00113-0010 Clothing Styles 1915
00113-0011 Golf
00113-0012 Golf
00113-0013 Clothing Styles 1917
00113-0014 Frank White
00113-0018-02 Christmas
00113-0021 Mildred Hadley Baker
00113-0022 Armory burning in Valley City (ND)
00113-0023 Middlewest Bank at Valley City (ND) 1919
00113-0024 Middlewest Bank at Valley City (ND) 1919
00113-0025 Elevator, Frazier (ND)
00113-0027 Play Days at Valley City (ND)
00113-0029 State Normal School, Valley City (ND)
00113-0030 State Normal School, Valley City (ND)
00113-0031 State Normal School, Valley City (ND)
00113-0032 State Normal School, Valley City (ND)
00113-0033 Edwin White
00113-0034 Edwin White
00113-0035 Theodore Roosevelt
00113-0036 Edwin, Frank, and Richard White 1913
00113-0037 Sledding in the snow
00113-0039 Sledding in the snow
00113-0041 Sledding in the snow
00113-0042 Sledding in the snow
00113-0043 Sledding in the snow
00113-0044 Sledding in the snow
00113-0049 Swimsuits
00113-0050 Swimsuits
00113-0055 Bicycle
00113-0056 Clothing Styles 1917
00113-0059 Sailboats
00113-0060 Sailboats
00113-0064 Sledding in the snow
00113-0065 Sledding in the snow
00113-0069 Edwin and Richard White and Margaret Russell
00113-0071 Plays Days at Valley City (ND)
00113-0073 Plays Days at Valley City (ND)
00113-0074 Plays Days at Valley City (ND)
00113-0077 Christmas, Valley City (ND)
00113-0080 Plays Days at Valley City (ND)
00113-0081 Plays Days at Valley City (ND)
00113-0082 Sarah Platt Dicher and clothing styles, Valley City (ND) 1900
00113-0083 Northern Pacific Bridge, Bismarck (ND)
00113-0084 Northern Pacific Bridge, Bismarck (ND)
00113-0085 Northern Pacific Bridge, Bismarck (ND)
00113-0086 Old North Dakota State Capitol 1905-1910, Bismarck (ND)
00113-0088 Old North Dakota State Capitol 1905-1910, Bismarck (ND)
00113-0089 Bismarck High School, Bismarck (ND)
00113-0090 Clothing Styles children's winter coats/ hats
00113-0091 Northern Pacific Bridge, Bismarck (ND)
00113-0092 Northern Pacific Bridge, Bismarck (ND)
00113-0093 Northern Pacific Bridge, Bismarck (ND)
00113-0094 Chautauqua, Valley City (ND)
00113-0095 Governor Frank White, Governor Martin G. Brumbaugh (PA), Governor Louis B. Hanna, and Governor Joseph M. Devine standing next to rail fence
00113-0096 Governor Frank White, Governor Martin G. Brumbaugh (PA), Governor Louis B. Hanna, and Governor Joseph M. Devine standing next to rail fence
00113-0097 Frank White
00113-0098 First Congregational Church, Valley City (ND)
00113-0101 University of North Dakota, Grand Forks (ND)
00113-0108 Former Governor's Mansion
00113-0109 Old Capitol, Bismarck (ND)
00113-0110 Old Capitol, Bismarck (ND)
00113-0111 Chautauqua 1914/06/26
00113-0112 Mr. and Mrs. Edwin White wedding photos
00113-0115 Plays Days at Valley City, Valley City (ND)
00113-0116 Plays Days at Valley City, Valley City (ND)
00113-0117 Plays Days at Valley City, Valley City (ND)
00113-0118 W. C. Lyon
00113-0122 Armory burned at Valley City (ND)
00113-0123 Armory burned at Valley City (ND)
00113-0124 Armory burned at Valley City (ND)
00113-0125 Armory burned at Valley City (ND)
00113-0126 Frank White
00113-0127 Edwin White
00113-0128 Oriska School
00113-0131 Radio station, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks (ND)
00113-0133 Campus shots University of North Dakota 1916
00113-0134 Ski Jump
00113-0135 Grain Elevator, Goodrich (ND)
00113-0136 First Battalion University of North Dakota, Grand Forks (ND)
00113-0137 First Battalion University of North Dakota, Grand Forks (ND)
00113-0138 First Battalion, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks (ND)
00113-0140 Annual May Fete, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks (ND) 1917
00113-0141 Ed Brady
00113-0144 Treasury Department, Washington D.C.
00113-0145 Treasury Department, Washington D.C.
00113-0146 Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
00113-0147 Capitol Building, Washington D.C.
00113-0148 Woodrow Wilson
00113-0149 Old Capitol, Bismarck (ND)
00113-0150 Old Main, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks (ND)
00113-0151 Governor Louis B. Hanna in his office
00113-0152 Governor E. Y. Sarles
00113-0153 Governor John Burke
00113-0154 Bishop Vincent Wehrle, Bismarck (ND)
00113-0155 Rev. John Shanley, Bishop of Fargo
00113-0156 E. G. Patterson
00113-0157 Hauling grain
00113-0159 Christmas 1937&
00113-0160 Christmas
00113-0162 Frank White
00113-0163 Frank White
00113-0164 Frank White
00113-0165 Frank White
00113-0166 Frank White
00113-0167 Frank White
00113-0168 Frank White
00113-0169 Frank White playing golf
00113-0172 David H. Houston, steel plate engraving
00113-0173 Porter James McCumber, steel plate engraving
00113-0174 W. P. Wacomber etching 1900-1920
00113-0175 W. C. Gilbreath,steel plate engraving
00113-Bk4- Northern Pacific Depot, Bismarck (ND)
00113-Bk4-0012 Red Cross group, Valley City (ND)
00113-Bk4-p021-01 Old North Dakota State Capitol, Bismarck (ND) 1905-1910
00113-Bk4-p021-03 Old North Dakota State Capitol 1905-1910
00113 - Bk5-p028 Radio Station 9XN University of North Dakota, Grand Forks (ND)
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