Randolph Louis White

Randolph Louis White was the founder of The Tribune. He died on October 28, 1991.

Early Life

He was born on October 2, 1896 in Bridgewater. He attended high school in Columbus, Ohio. White worked as a machinist until 1919 and then joined the U.S. Army.

Military Career

White was part of the Ninth Calvary Regiment and trained at Camp Sherman. He was then moved to the Philippines where he served as a clerk and worked for the judge advocate. He was eventually promoted to sergeant. He voluntarily discharged from the army in 1928 and returned to working as a machinist.

Return to Virginia

White returned to Virginia in 1931 and became employed as a janitor at the University of Virginia Hospital. In 1949 he was given the opportunity to start training in inhalation therapy at Children's Hospital in Washington. He completed his studies at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and returned to UVA as supervisor to the oxygen therapy department. White worked at the hospital for 33 years. He was the first black Southerner to be accepted into the American Association of Inhalation Therapists.

At one point, White founded a movie theater in Brown's Cove.

The Tribune

White founded The Tribune in 1954. It was the Charlottesville-Albemarle's premier African-American newspaper. White said that the best story he ever ran was about Martin Luther King's funeral in Atlanta.

Personal Life

White loved music, especially jazz. His wife was a registered nurse. White's heritage included Black, Cherokee and German.

White was the eldest child of Sarah Lewis and John Flournoy White, who was the brother of Bezeal "Bee" White (the brother-in-law of Cain Hawkins as well as the great-great-grandfather of Marcha Howard).