Dr. Eartha Mary Magdalene White was born in 1876 and died in 1974. This exceptional Black woman did a lot of living in her ninety-seven years on earth. It can be said of her accomplishments set a high water mark for achievement, for her personally and for humanity. Her legacy lives on in The Clara White Mission, Inc. Dr. White’s achievements transcended the barriers of race and gender in her service to the Jacksonville community. Dr. Eartha Mary Magdalene White was a nationally known humanitarian responsible for the development of many social programs that served the disadvantaged of northeast Florida. She was Jacksonville’s first professional social worker, first female realtor and the first Black census taker in the state of Florida. She was a school teacher; a soprano opera singer with the first-ever Black opera company in the United States. The doctor was an entrepreneur-operating a laundry company, a taxi service, a janitorial service and a department store. This extraordinary woman also had an employment bureau. Over her lifetime, Eartha White earned more than a million dollars and this aptly named woman spent all of it ‘in the service of humankind.’ Dr. Eartha White held charter memberships in the National Business League, the Community Chest (United Way), the Jacksonville Historical Society and the Jacksonville Humane Society.
Dr. Eartha Mary Magdalene White was aptly name, because she was a great humanitarian. In 1904, she founded The Clara White Mission in Jacksonville Florida. Dr. White attributed the Missions origin to go back as far as the 1880’s by a former slave named Clara English White, who lived (1845-1920) and who fed hungry neighbors from her two-room home on Clay Street. Dr. White followed the role model set by her mother. The Mission was first established as a soup kitchen but it grew until 1932 when they out grew their facility. Dr. White obtained the Glove Theatre on West Ashley Street and named the facility in memory of her mother.
Over the course of ninety-seven years of living, Dr. White was responsible for the establishment of a tubercular hospital called Mercy Hospital, a program for delinquent boys (The Boys Improvement Club), the establishment of the first public park for African Americans in the city (Oakland Park, which Miss White financed from her personal funds for ten years. The city took over this responsibility at this point in time. She had a home for unwed mothers, an orphanage, an adoption agency, a child care center for working mothers, a rehab program and a program for released prisoners. Dr. Eartha Mary Magdalene White was the persona of what most of us aspire to achieve in life-a life that makes living better for everyone around us.
Eartha White lived on the second floor of the Clara White Mission from 1932 until her death in 1974. The Mission is still a robust part of the community. It has developed a continuum of inter-related programs designed to support workforce development and assist chronically homeless members of the community in the transition to independence and permanent housing.
Since 2003, the program has housed 163 individuals and trained 191 individuals for careers in the hospitality industry in their certified culinary program. Seventy-six percent of the program’s graduates have acquired full or part-time employment within 30 days of graduation. The Mission also has a program the greater Expectations Youth program which engages at-risk youth in a golf and tennis curriculum which provides hot meals, academic assistance and family support. This program serves approximately 100 youth annually. There are more than 700 graduates in the community.
What a profound impact Dr. White’s life made in this community and continues to contribute. What she started in a soup kitchen has lasted well over 100 years. She led a life that had meaning and purpose for more than personal gain. The motto for the friends of Clara White Mission is this:
“Do all the good you can, In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can, For all the people you can,
While you can”