Gaylord Starin White

Gaylord Starin White (March 3, 1864 – November 25, 1931) was an American social reformer and activist who was prominent in the settlement movement. He was the second and long-serving director (known as the "headworker") of New York City's Union Settlement and, at his death, the dean of students at Union Theological Seminary. A New York City Housing Authority center for the elderly bears his name, as did a summer camp in Arden, New York for inner-city children.

Early life and education White was born in New Rochelle, New York to Charles Trumbull White and Georgiana Starin. He then attended Union Seminary and, after earning a Bachelor of Divinity in 1890, While returning to the US in 1892, he visited the original university settlement, Toynbee Hall, for two months.

Social reform work White was ordained to the Presbyterian ministry in 1892 and afterward was briefly the first assistant pastor at Rutgers Presbyterian Church. White explained, "We aim to have an open church, an everyday church, on Institutional lines: in other words, a people's church working on the principle of self support."

After eight years at the City Park branch, White followed Hall back to Union Theological Seminary (UTS) and became its director of field work in 1901. In 1929 he was appointed dean of students at UTS.

Written work by White Gaylord S. White, "The Social Settlement after Twenty-Five Years," The Harvard Theological Review, vol. 4, no. 1 (Jan. 1911), 47–70. Gaylord S. White, "Social Training of Lay Workers", Religious Education, vol. 8 (1913), 83–87. PDF Gaylord S. White, "Reflections of a Settlement Worker," Scribner's Magazine LXXVI (July–December 1924), 633–638. PDF