William G. White Collection

Content Description

William G. White, 1947-2009, was an educator who earned a masters degree from Andrews University in history. He worked at Andrews Academy for a few years and later as a professor of educational leadership at a university in Louisiana. One of White’s research interests was the issue of academic accreditation for Seventh-day Adventist colleges in North America in the years following World War I. There was controversy at that time within the denomination over whether “our” schools should strive for accreditation by state and regional accrediting agencies. Over time those supportive of the concept won. White’s research looks at this debate and those issues associated with it. He produced a book length manuscript which he submitted for publication by the Andrews University Press, but it was returned for more work. That work was not completed before his unexpected death. This collection material White gathered for the writing of his manuscript on accreditation of Adventist colleges. The largest portion is correspondence of the General Conference Educational Department (Bx 2 Fld 1-19) related to this topic. Another part of the collection is the Andrews University Oral History Project where seventeen administrators were interviewed about accreditation by White and/or Maurice Hogdon in 1976 and 1977 (Bx 4 Fld 1-12). In the first box is White’s manuscript for a book with about 500 pages. According to a letter from Ronald Knott (see correspondence Bx 1 Fld 7) the title of the manuscript is New Times, New Measures, New Men: The Regional Accreditation of Seventh-day Adventist Liberal Arts Colleges, 1922-1945. It has not been published. The section, “Correspondence,” comments on the manuscript and sheds more light on its background and why it has not been published (see especially letter from R. Knott and email from George Knight Bx 1 Fld 7). Received at the Center along with the research materials were quite a quantity of books from William G. White’s Library. These books were largely general Seventh-day Adventist published works on a wide variety of topics. They would be typical of denominational books in the library of a well read individual. These books have not been retained in the collection or even listed due to their truly general nature. However, there were a number of books related to White’s research topic. These books have been retained in the Center and are listed in section VII of this Inventory under, “Items Removed.”

Provenance

William G. White donated this collection to the Andrews University Center for Adventist Research via provisions in his will carried out by the executor of his estate in mid 2009.

Restrictions Apply

Yes

Use Restrictions

All users of this collection will be required to complete the “Application to Use Unpublished Records,” and to observe the regulations specified in the "Patron Agreement" and "Researcher’s Code of Conduct." All records in this collection are open and available for research. Citation for this collection: Box ___, Fld ___, William G. White Collection (Collection 282), Center for Adventist Research, James White Library, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI.