Eartha M. M. White
(1876-1974)

Died aged c. 98

Dr. Eartha M. M. White, a life-long resident of Jacksonville, was born in 1876, the adopted daughter of a former slave. In her early twenties, she spearheaded the construction of the first public school for African-Americans in the community of Bayard in Duval County. In 1904 White established the Clara White Mission in her mother’s honor. The Mission became the base for regional and national social programming she instituted. After Jacksonville’s Great Fire of 1901 the plight of the homeless and indigent elderly became a focal point of her work. She established a "Colored Old Folks Home" which subsequently became the Eartha White Nursing Home. Known today as Eartha White Health Care, Inc., it continues to serve the elderly, disabled and financially disadvantaged. In 1970, President Richard Nixon presented her the Lane Bryant Award for Volunteerism. At age 95 she was named Florida’s Outstanding Senior Citizen by Governor Reubin Askew. Dr. Eartha White died in 1974 at the age of 98.

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Eartha Mary Magdalene White (November 8, 1876 – January 18, 1974) was an American humanitarian, philanthropist, and businesswoman.

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