St. Ives Society

Edward Douglass White, Jr., was born on his parent's sugar cane plantation near the town of Thibodeaux in Lafourche Parish.  He was the son of Edward Douglass White, Sr., a former governor of Louisiana.  On his paternal side, he was the grandson of Dr. James White, a U.S. representative, physician, and judge.  On his maternal side, he was the grandson of U.S. Marchal Tench Riggold, and related to the famous Lee family of Virginia.  He studied at Jesuit High School in New Orleans (then known as the College of the Immaculate Conception), and then attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.  His studies were interrupted by the Civil War.  After the Civil War, White.

He was admitted to the bar and started practicing in New Orleans in 1868.  He served in the Louisiana State Senate in 1874, and as an Associate Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court from 1879 to 1880.  He resigned on March 12, 1894, when he was nominated by President Grover Cleveland (D) to be an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  

In 1910, at the age of 65, White became the 9th Chief Justice of the United States, having been elevated to that position by President William Howard Taft (R) upon the death of Melville Fuller.  At the time, Chief Justice White was the first Associate Justice to be appointed CHief Justice since John Rutledge in 1795.  

Chief Justice White swore in President Woodrow Wilson (twice) and President Warren G. Harding.  He died in office, and was buried at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.  His statue is one of two honoring Louisiana natives in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol; and another statue (seen on the right) stands in front of the Louisiana Supreme Court building in New Orleans.  "Edward Douglas White Catholic High School" in Thibodeaux, Louisiana, is named in his honor.