When people contact us to donate material to the Archives, they often say something like, “I don’t really know what to do with it, but I just can’t bear to throw it away.” To that, we give a hearty and grateful thank-you. If it weren’t for donors like that – who try their hardest to find a good home for a historical object instead of just pitching it into the trash – the Archives would have far less material
that documents the history of campus life at OSU.
Case in point: In February 2015 Beth White of Gainesville, Ga., offered to donate material from her uncle, David Armstrong White, who had attended OSU from the fall of 1965 to June 1970. He had died in 1999 and had never had children, so there was no one in the next generation to hand down some of his “stuff” from OSU. And what great “stuff” it is! It turns out David White was a member of OSU’s 1969 Big Ten Championship Fencing Team. As such, he was awarded a plaque for being on the team, and since he participated at the Varsity level, he received a Varsity “O” jacket. Along with these items, Beth White also donated earlier this year a photo of David White in 1971 wearing the jacket, a photo of the team in 1969, and some photos of a team reunion from 1994.
1969, David Armstrong White in letterman
It also turns out that because of Beth White, we know the rest of the story about her uncle. Unless an OSU alum does something that gets him or her onto the pages of The Lantern or the Alumni Magazine after graduation, we usually don’t know the path their lives took after leaving campus. In David White’s case, after earning his bachelor of science degree in Architecture in June 1970, he lived in Columbus for a while, then moved to Atlanta in 1973 where he worked for an architectural firm for several years. He decided to return to school to obtain a degree in child psychology, so he entered George State University where he earned a master’s degree and specialization degree in that field. He was employed by Gwinnett County Public Schools as a staff psychologist until he retired in 1997. He passed away in October 1999.
By the way, David followed in his father’s footsteps when it came to attending OSU. Willard Chandler White Sr. earned a bachelor of arts degree in June 1960 and
followed that with a master of arts degree, specializing in Speech, in March 1962.
1969 Men’s Fencing Team
To see some of David White’s artifacts and photos and to learn more about the history of fencing, visit the Archives’ exhibit case in the display area of Thompson Library at the east end of the first level, closest to the Oval. The exhibit will be up through early December. And thanks again to Beth White for taking the time and effort to find an appropriate home for her uncle’s pieces of OSU history.
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