The Finding Aid of the Howard A. White Papers 0010
Jamie Henricks and Jessica Geiser
The processing of this collection and the creation of this finding aid was funded by the generous support of the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Pepperdine University. Special Collections and University Archives.
June 2012
24255 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, CA, 90263-4786
kelsey.knox@pepperdine.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Pepperdine University. Special Collections and University Archives.
Title: Howard A. White Papers
Identifier/Call Number: 0010
Physical Description:
97.71 Linear Feet
(79 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1938-1991
Date (bulk): 1957-1990
Abstract: The collection contains professional and personal papers of Howard A. White dating from 1938 to 1991. The bulk of the materials
range from 1957 to 1990 and document his professional involvement with Pepperdine University in various administrative roles,
and personal documents including speeches, personal and family history, and book research for
Crest of a Golden Wave.
Physical Location: Pepperdine University. Special Collections and University Archives.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Advance notice required for access. Materials in sub-series 2.3 are restricted until January 1, 2020. Materials in series
3 are restricted for 50 years after their date of creation; the entire series will be open in 2036.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder# or item name], Howard A. White papers, Collection no. 0010, Special Collections and University Archives, University
Libraries, Pepperdine University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Items in the collection were transferred to the University Archives in October 1989, and after Howard White's death in 1991.
Biographical note
Howard Ashley White was born on September 28, 1913, in Cloverdale, Alabama, to a family of teachers. He attended David Lipscomb
College, and was almost forced to leave due to money issues during the Depression, but the school loaned him the money to
continue his education. White then planned to attend Tulane University, and sought a ministerial position in New Orleans part-time
to augment his schooling. He received the position of minister at the Carrollton Avenue Church of Christ. While the elders
there initially wanted him to work full time, he convinced them to allow him to attend Tulane as well, where he received his
bachelor's and doctorate degrees in history. White extensively studied the Reconstruction Era in the United States, and later
published a book,
The Freedmen's Bureau in Lousiana (1970).
White served at the Carrollton Avenue Church for 12 years before academia called again. He began teaching at David Lipscomb
College in 1953, and eventually became chairman of the history department. In 1958, Norvel Young recruited him to teach at
Pepperdine College, where he served as a history professor and the chairman of the Department of Social Studies.
In 1962, White was named director of Pepperdine's graduate program, and in 1965 he became Dean of Graduate Studies. He also
served as the Dean of Undergraduate Studies, before being appointed the Executive Vice President in 1970 under President William
S. Banowsky. He held this position until Banowsky's resignation in 1978, whereupon he was appointed President of the university.
During his time at Pepperdine, he also became the founding director of the Pepperdine's Year-In Europe program, and helped
M. Norvel Young recruit students for the first program in Heidelberg, Germany.
As President of Pepperdine, White is credited with bolstering faculty numbers and raising faculty salaries, tightening admissions
standards to make Pepperdine a selective school for the first time in its history, and establishing four urban education centers
in Los Angeles and Orange Counties to serve graduate students. He also famously doubled Pepperdine's financial resources through
the university's first nine-figure capital campaign, called the "Wave of Excellence". It ultimately raised $137.8 million
dollars for the university, far exceding the $100 million dollar goal. These funds helped White add 200 acres to the campus
and construct major facilities, including music and theater buildings, student and faculty housing, the Helen Field Heritage
Hall, and the baseball stadium. A major sports supporter on campus, White was also instrumental in bringing the 1984 Los
Angeles Olympics to Pepperdine for the water polo competitions.
White retired from the Presidency in 1985, but continued to serve as President Emeritus until health problems no longer allowed
him to do so. He passed away on February 1, 1991, and was survived by his two sons. His wife, Maxcine Elliott Feltman White
(May 5, 1919-January 19, 1973), preceded him in death, passing away after a struggle with cancer. White's legacy is honored
in many ways at Pepperdine, including the Howard A. White Award for Teaching Excellence, the Howard A. White Professorship
in History, and the Howard A. White Center (HAWC) on campus.
Scope and Content
The collection contains professional and personal papers of Howard A. White dating from 1938 to 1991. The collection contains
chronological correspondence files; subject and correspondence files from White's office at Pepperdine University; files related
to university boards (including the Board of Trustees, Board of Regents, and University Board); White's appointment books;
notes and copies of speeches and sermons; and personal files including biographical information, personal and family history,
and notes made in the course of writing the book
Crest of a Golden Wave.
White documented many aspects of Pepperdine's history and people, and made extensive notes and reports about the university.
As a result, the collection also contains correspondence and files originally created by other individuals including M. Norvel
Young, William S. Banowsky, Thomas Bost, Jerry Hudson, Donald Miller, and others.
Items are primarily paper, but the collection also includes photographs and large blueprints.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in six series:
Series 1: Chronological Correspondence
Series 2: Subject/Correspondence Files
Series 3: University Boards
Series 4: Appointment Books
Series 5: Speeches
Series 6: Personal Files
Processing Information note
The collection was arranged and described by Jamie Henricks and Jessica Geiser in June, 2012.
Separated Materials
Contact information cards from William Banowsky's rolodex were moved from the Howard A. White papers to the William S. Banowsky
papers.
Related Archival Materials
Other collections with material from Howard White's time at Pepperdine are the M. Norvel and Helen Young papers and the William
S. Banowsky papers.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Speeches, addresses, etc., American -- 20th century
Reports
Malibu (Calif.) -- History -- 20th century
Financial records
Minutes
Memorandums
Universities and colleges -- United States -- Records and correspondence
Universities and colleges -- History
Universities and colleges -- Faculty
Universities and colleges -- Employees
College administrators -- United States -- History
College presidents -- California -- Malibu
Correspondence
Education, Higher -- California -- Malibu
Universities and colleges -- California -- Malibu -- History
Universities and colleges -- Administration
Administrative records
Appointment books
Graziadio School of Business and Management
Pepperdine University. School of Law
Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University. Board of Trustees
Miller, Donald V.
Tiner, Hugh M. (Hugh Marvin)
Pepperdine University. Office of the President
Seaver College
White, Howard A. (Howard Ashley)
Young, M. Norvel (Matt Norvel)
Banowsky, William Slater
box 10-15, box 4-9, box 1-3
Series 1:
Chronological Correspondence
1967-1988
Scope and Content
The series contains Pepperdine University correspondence and interoffice memos collected from Howard White's office from 1967
to 1988. Correspondence is primarily to and from Howard White, but also includes correspondence of M. Norvel Young, William
S. Banowsky, Jerry Hudson, and other individuals that was collected by Howard White. Some files contain logs of phone calls
from the office as well.
Arrangement
Materials are arranged chronologically.
box 3
November 1970 - August 1971
box 4
September 1971 - August 1973
box 5
September 1973 - April 1975
box 10
August 1978 - October 1978; January 1981 - October 1981
box 11
November 1981 - December 1982
box 12
January 1983 - December 1983
box 13
January 1984 - December 1984
box 14
January 1985 - December 1986
box 15
January 1987 - November 1988
box 78, 79, box 64-65, box 58-63, box 52-57, box 46-51, box 37-42, box 43-45, box 15, box 25-30, box 31-36, box 16-21, box 22-24
Series 2:
Subject/Correspondence Files
box 15-61, 65, 78-79
Sub-series 2.1:
Howard A. White Subject/Correspondence Files
circa 1957-1990
Scope and Content
The sub-series contains files on various subjects and people that contain primarily correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings,
notes, and other paper materials collected in the office of Howard A. White during his time at Pepperdine University in the
capacity of professor, Dean of Graduate Studies, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Executive Vice President, President, and President
Emeritus. The files contain documentation of university policies and procedures, material generated from administrative work
and activities at Pepperdine, and information related to interests that would improve the Pepperdine community, including
the process of moving the campus from Los Angeles to Malibu.
Major topics include budgets; commencements and commencement speakers; introducing computers to campus (with the Computer
Services Committee and Computer Systems Company evaluations); enrollment; finance; faculty and faculty salaries; salary studies;
IRS investigations; the McKinsey report; the Seaver family; the Malibu and Los Angeles campuses; campus professional schools
(including the School of Law, School of Business and Management, and others); tuition; Hydril; the University Planning Consultants
investigation; the Year in Europe study abroad program; and the 1984 Olympics.
Arrangement
Subject files are arranged alphabetically according to the original folder titles. Multiple styles of filing were present
in Howard White's offices over the years. General miscellaneous files include one folder for a letter of the alphabet, sometimes
one per calendar year (i.e: M, or M 1976). These folders were catch-all folders for correspondence to or from people or about
topics that did not amount to enough to fill their own folder. Other miscellaneous files that included a greater volume of
paper were broken down into multiple ranges for each letter of the alphabet (i.e. AA-AC). Finally, there were many files
about individual people or topics (i.e. Budget).
For each letter of the alphabet, general miscellaneous files are arranged first (i.e: M, or M 1976), followed by miscellaneous
files labeled with letter groupings (i.e. AA-AC), which are then followed by individually labeled subject files starting with
that particular letter (i.e. Budget).
box 15
A (misc.) - American Association
box 16
American Council - Bei (misc.)
box 20
Cars (misc.) - Colw (misc.)
box 21
Com (misc.) - California Postsecondary Education Committee
box 22
California State Universities - Chain
box 24
Commencement Speaker (Wernher von Braun) - Dorms (misc.)
box 25
Dorr (misc.) - Edaw, Inc.
box 26
Educational - Fifty (misc.)
box 35
Kenney (misc.) - Lane (misc.)
box 38
Marp (misc.) - More (misc.)
box 43
One Hundred Club - Paz (misc.)
box 49
Shep (misc.) - Stua (misc.)
box 56
Tuition - University Planning Consultants Investigation
box 57
University Planning Consultants Investigation - W (misc.)
box 58
Ward (misc.) - Wood (misc.)
box 59
Woodcarving (misc.) - World
box 61
Z (misc.) - Mixed alphabet (misc.)
box 65
Legal-size Subject Files
Scope and Content
This box contains materials housed in legal-size folders taken from other parts of the collection. Materials include blueprints
for the Pepperdine international house in Heidelberg, the Adamson House in Malibu, and various buildings around the Pepperdine
campus in Malibu; files on budget, finance, and salaries; information about the Adamson land grant; correspondence between
Howard White and William S. Banowsky; and correspondence between Howard White and Thomas Bost.
box 78-79
Subject File Addendum Boxes
box 61-63
Sub-series 2.2:
William S. Banowsky Subject Files
circa 1960-1980
Scope and Content
This sub-series contains subject folders of William S. Banowsky's that Howard White collected in his office, dating from approximately
1960 to 1980. Most folders are labeled with a single letter of the alphabet, with individual papers inside from a range of
individuals and about topics starting with that letter (i.e. A). Some folders are named according to individual topics (i.e.
Budget).
Arrangement
Items are arranged alphabetically by folder title.
box 63-64
Sub-series 2.3:
Howard White's Research on Pepperdine University's Relationship to the Churches of Christ
1965-1989
Scope and Content
Materials in this sub-series were collected and arranged by Howard White primarily regarding the history of the relationship
of Pepperdine University to the Churches of Christ. There are also folders about M. Norvel Young, William S. Banowsky, the
Seaver family, and the politics of presidency.
Conditions Governing Access
Items in this sub-series are restricted until January 1, 2020.
box 66, box 67-72, box 73
Series 3:
University Boards
1957-1986
Scope and Content
The series contains materials produced by the governing boards of Pepperdine University: the Board of Regents, Board of Trustees,
and University Board. The materials include correspondence, meeting minutes, background information, reports, and copies
of organizational amendments to bylaws and articles of incorporation made during this time. Between 1975 and 1976, the governing
board was expanded and the name was changed from the Board of Trustees to the Board of Regents, while the members of the former
Board of Trustees became the Religious Standards Committee.
Arrangement
Materials are arranged chronologically, and divided by specific organizations when possible.
Conditions Governing Access
Materials in this series are restricted for 50 years after their date of creation; the entire series will be open in 2036.
box 67
December 1975 - September 1977
box 68
December 1977 - July 1980
box 69
July 1980 - September 1982
box 70
February 1983 - December 1985
box 71
February 1986 - December 1986; Miscellaneous Undated Files; "Expanding the Board" report
box 72
Amended Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation
box 73
Series 4:
Appointment Books
1973-1978, 1981
Scope and Content
The series contains appointment books of Howard White's schedule kept by his secretary, Shirley Roper, from 1973 to 1978,
and 1981.
Arrangement
Materials are arranged chronologically.
box 73-75
Series 5:
Speeches
circa 1940-1985
Scope and Content
The series contains drafts, notes, and copies of speeches written and delivered by White on a variety of subjects, including
his address given to Pepperdine University upon his inauguration as President in 1978. Other files include notes for speeches
before board meetings and notes for sermons.
Arrangement
Speeches are arranged chronologically when possible, and arranged by topic when folders are undated.
box 77, box 75-76
Series 6:
Personal Files
1938-1990
Scope and Content
The series contains White's personal materials, such as biographical information, photographs, family history files, and other
information. The series also includes his research for the book on Pepperdine's history,
Crest of a Golden Wave. Materials include correspondence, notes, articles, drafts and copies of book chapters.
Arrangement
Materials are arranged by topic.