Gussie White

Gussie White (30 January 1889 – 23 January 1953) was an American archaeologist, civil rights activist, and Works Progress Administration employee, who in that role was one of the few named Black women (of at least 87 total) Her son, John White, was the first Black police officer in Georgia.

Despite the manual labour undertaken, the women were not provided with overalls, and White's son later recalled that she wore "her own "brogans", gloves, and an old cotton dress" to work at the Mound. of which White was one of the few named. Scholars such as Cheryl Claassen have noted that the employment of African American women in physical archaeological work by the WPA rested "on a racist definition of womanhood and femininity", and left a mixed legacy of "benevolence and malevolence". John White credited his mother with encouraging him to apply, telling a reporter that: "60 of us applied. My mother was really active in the political arena, and she put my name in, along with several other young men."

Gussie White died on 23 January 1953, and was buried at Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia.