John H. White Jr.

John H. White Jr.
Born	(1933-11-10) November 10, 1933 Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Miami University
Scientific career
Fields	History
Institutions	Smithsonian Institution, Department of Science and Technology Division of Transportation Museum of History and Technology, National Museum of American History

John Henry White Jr. (born November 10, 1933) is an American historian and museum curator.

Biography

John Hoxland White Jr., was born on November 10, 1933, in Cincinnati, Ohio. In his early years, he explored tanneries and the Cincinnati Union Terminal, where he was particularly interested in the roundhouse. From this, White developed a yearning to become a locomotive engineer. His first job during high school entailed working on a gearbox assembly line at the Triumph Manufacturing Company. He enrolled at Miami University, near his home, and during his college years worked at the McGowan Pump Company, where he learned drafting. In 1958, he graduated with bachelor's degree in modern European history from Miami University. As soon as he graduated he got an internship position as a museum aide at the Smithsonian Institution. His early years at the Smithsonian Institution were spent working on ship models for Howard I. Chapelle, the curator of transportation. His internship was extended from time to time until his position as made permanent in 1960, when he became an associate curator in the Land Transportation Section. From 1961 until 1966 he was an associate curator of railroads at the Museum of History and Technology (renamed the National Museum of American History, curator from 1967 to 1985, and senior historian from 1986 until his retirement in 1989.

White authored an important series of books on American railroad history. These carefully researched and well documented works are valuable for all students and enthusiasts of transportation history.

Works

Title	Publication date	Pages	Notes
Cincinnati Locomotive Builders 1845-1868	1965	167	Smithsonian Bulletin 245
Early American Locomotives (Trains)	June 1, 1972	142	Dover; 19th century engravings, with brief history
Horsecars, Cable Cars and Omnibuses	June 1, 1974	107	Dover; images, with brief history
A History of the American Locomotive: Its Development, 1830–1880	January 1, 1980	528
The John Bull: 150 Years a Locomotive	October 1, 1981	144
The American Railroad Passenger Car	March 1, 1985	704
The Great Yellow Fleet: A History of American Railroad Refrigerator Cars	December 1, 1986	186
The American Railroad Freight Car: From the Wood-Car Era to the Coming of Steel	October 1, 1993	656
American Locomotives: An Engineering History, 1830–1880	December 11, 1997	624	Updated/expanded edition of his 1980 book
The Island Queen: Cincinnati's Excursion Steamer (with Robert J. White Sr.)	March 1, 2001	115
Cincinnati: City of Seven Hills (Ohio) (History)	2001	128
On the Right Track: Some Historic Cincinnati Railroads	2003	160
Wet Britches and Muddy Boots: A History of Travel in Victorian America	November 22, 2012	544	Indiana University Press, Railroads Past and Present series

Further reading

• Bell, Kurt R. "On the Shoulders of a Giant: A Profile of John H. White, Jr". Railroad History. 204 (Spring-Summer 2011): 6. JSTOR 43525056.