Laura Rogers White

Laura Rogers White (December 11, 1852 – ) was the first woman to graduate from the University of Michigan with a bachelor of science degree. She studied to be an architect but largely did not practice due to family obligations and lack of opportunities for female professionals.

Early life Laura Rogers White was born near Manchester, Kentucky, on December 11, 1852, one of six children of Daugherty White and Sarah Watts White. The Whites were a wealthy and politically influential family in Clay County, Kentucky, owning a saltworks and numerous land holdings, and were one side of the notorious Garrard-White Feud. Her brother John Daughterty White served in the US House of Representatives.

White attended the Science Hill Female Academy, then enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1871, where her brother studied law. Michigan students gave her the nickname "Alba Longa" because of her height of 6'2". She excelled in mathematics and graduated with honors in 1874.

In the 1910s, she was active in civic causes and organizations, including both the Outdoor Art League of Louisville, and the Women's Peace Party Convention. White was the director of the Huntington branch of KERA (Kentucky Equal Rights Association). Laura Rogers White was one of very few suffragists in the state of Kentucky at the time.

On January 25,1929, White died of a heart condition at her sister's home in Owensboro, Kentucky.