Evening star., 1953-11-15
By ChorIes Mercer

NEW YORK, Nov. 14.-Who
was Harry Dexter White?
The moving spotlight catches
q President and a former Presi-
dent of the United States. 1t
lights on cabinet members past
and present, on Congressman and
businessmen. But the central
figure of today's great political
drama is a ghost off IN the wings
the ghost of the man named
White, dead five years.
This is his story. A mystery
story.
When FBI reports that White
was linked to Communism be-
came a political issue a few days
ago few friends had a good word
to say for him publicly. Fear is
the dominant reason. They dread
guilt by association. So, in more
than one respect, the story of
White is a drama of our time.
When alive, White CLOSED
over many details of his early
life. In a who's Who" published
before the former Soviet agents
Whitaker Chambers and Eliza
beth Bentley levelled their
charges against him, White ap-
proved his autobiography thus:
Economist; Phi. D., Harvard,
1880; became director of none
tary research, United States De-
partment of the Treasury, 1910;
special assistant to the Secretary
of the Treasury, 1912; assistant
to the Secretary, 1943-45; now
assistant secretary; member
board of trustees Export Import
Bank of Washington since 1941;
director United States CONNER
cial Co.; member Executive
Committee on Economic Foreign
Policy; member Liberated Areas
Committee. Then his home and
Office address.
That is all.
No Mention of Parentage.
There is no mention of his
parents or the date of his birth,
of the fact he was married and
had two daughters, of his World
War I record, of the fact he
taught at Harvard and Lawrence
College; Appleton. Wis.
Unimportant? You also find
he put little of this earlier data
into the official thumbnail auto
biographies he wrote as he rose
in Government.
Why?
White always said he was born
October 20, 1892, in Boston. Bos-
ton City Hall records show that
the only Harry White born there
from 1892 to 1900 was on October
8, 1892. His parents were named
as Isaac and Sarah of ST Lowell
street, a tenement area. Their
birthplace was listed as Russia.
School records show that Harry
White attended elementary and
high school ins Everett. an in
dustrial suburb of Boston. His
middle name, Dexter, appears
for the first time after he entered
high school.
In September. 1911, he entered
the University of Massachusetts,
at Amherst, then called Massa-
chusetts Agricultural College. On
a card there he listed under par
entS the name of N. j. White,
228 Hanover street, Boston. He
spent one year at the university.
His record was good but not bril-
liant-an 80.8 average.
Then no record can be found
of him for five years.
In Washington years later. he
reported having wide. business
experience. Perhaps he was in
business during those years. Any
one who knows about that period
of his life will not talk to a
reporter.
Enlisted in World War l.
The next public record Of
Harry Dexter White is April IL,
1917, when he enlisted in the
United States Army six days
after the United States declared
war on Germany. He was dis
charged in February, 1919. as a
first lieutenant of infantry.
Where did he serve? The rec
ord does not show. No one will
say.
One source, who refuses use
Of his name. says White ran an
orphanage for, a couple of years
LOST