John H. White

John Henry White Jr. (born November 10, 1933) is an American historian and museum curator. He was employed by the National Museum of American History from 1958 to 1990. In 1979 his book The American Railroad Passenger Car was nominated for the National Book Award for history. Since 1996 he has been a professor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he teaches history of travel and technology.

Biography John Henry 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 an interest in becoming 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 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.

After graduation 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 was 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.

Works Title Publication date Pages NotesCincinnati Locomotive Builders 1845-18681965167Smithsonian Bulletin 245 Early American Locomotives (Trains) 142 Dover; 19th century engravings, with brief history 107 Dover; images, with brief history 528 The John Bull: 150 Years a Locomotive 144 The American Railroad Passenger Car 704 186 656 624 Updated/expanded edition of his 1980 book 115 128 On the Right Track: Some Historic Cincinnati Railroads 160 Wet Britches and Muddy Boots: A History of Travel in Victorian America 544 Indiana University Press, Railroads Past and Present series