Oral history interview with Thomas Jackson White, Jr., March 14, 1986
Subtitle: interview C-0029-2, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Dean, Pamela, interviewer; Southern Oral History Program; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library
Edition: Electronic ed.
Publisher: University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill
Published: 2007
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; Officials and employees; Lobbyists; Planning; Tobacco industry; Art museums; Design and construction; Political aspects; North Carolina Museum of Art; North Carolina. General Assembly; North Carolina
Other titles: Interview C-0029-2, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Thomas Jackson White, Jr., March 14, 1986; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: At the time of this interview, in 1986, Thomas Jackson White, Jr., could look back on decades as a civil and criminal lawyer in eastern North Carolina, terms in the North Carolina House of Representatives and State Senate in the 1950s and 1960s, a stint as a lobbyist, positions on the governing bodies of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a long career of influence in state politics. In this interview, White describes some of his experiences as a leader in North Carolina. He speaks at length in the first half of the interview about his eighteen-year chairmanship of the State Art Museum Building Commission, time he says he spent navigating resistance from Raleigh residents, bureaucratic mazes, the press, and party politics. In the second half, White focuses on his career as a lobbyist for the tobacco industry, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how the legislature works. This interview offers not just a portrait of an influential North Carolinian, but also insight into the intricacies of state government. White died in 1991.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on May 6, 2008).

Interview participants: Thomas Jackson White, Jr., interviewee; Pamela Dean, interviewer.

Duration: 02:43:34.

This electronic edition is part of the UNC-Chapel Hill digital library, Documenting the American South.  It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.

Text encoded by Jennifer Joyner.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 162.8 kilobytes, 299 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series C, Notable North Carolinians, interview C-0029-2, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Ron Bedard. Original transcript: 56 p.

Funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this interview.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements:  Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player.