John W. White

Dean, Libraries

John W. White has served as the dean of libraries at the College of Charleston since 2014, following a two-year appointment as interim dean.

In his role as dean, White leads the College Libraries in their mission to serve as the hub for student and faculty discovery and collaboration. With senior administration, White guides the Libraries' vision and ensures its position as the heartbeat of campus and sanctuary for the nearly one million annual patrons.

The Libraries include the region's premier research library, the Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library; Special Collections; and the Grice Marine Library, the John Rivers Communication Museum and the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture.

White has been with the Addlestone Library since 2001. He has served as an archivist, department head and associate dean. He has been the principal investigator on more than a dozen state, federal, and private foundation grants. These grants have funded important archival processing projects, the digitization of historic records held by the College of Charleston and its partners, and the founding of the Race and Social Justice Initiative following the tragedy at Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church in downtown Charleston. Previous appointments also include director of the Lowcountry Digital Library; regional co-director of the South Carolina Digital Library; and the director of the Program in the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World.

White is the author of a number of works on Southern history and politics, including "Race, Grass Roots Activism and the Evolution of the Republican Party in South Carolina,1952--1974," in Glenn Feldman's Painting Dixie Red: When, Where, Why, and How the South Became Republican (University of Florida Press, 2011) and "The White Citizens' Councils of Orangeburg County, South Carolina" in Winfred B. Moore and O. Vernon Burton's Toward The Meeting of the Waters: Journeys in the History of the Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina, 1901--2003 (University of South Carolina Press, 2008). He is the co-editor of Data Driven: Digital Humanities in the Library, which was published by the Purdue University Press. He is also co-editor of Challenging History: Race, Equity, and the Practice of Public History (University of South Carolina Press).

Education

2006: Ph.D. in History, University of Florida

1999: M.A. in History, College of Charleston

1996: B.A. in Political Science, Bridgewater College

Career Highlights

2014-Present: Dean of College Libraries

2012-2014: Interim Dean of Libraries

2009-2012: Director of the Lowcountry Digital Library

2009-2012: Regional co-director of the South Carolina Digital Library

2010-2012: Director of the Program in the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World

Honors and Achievements

2018-present: Board Member, Partnership Among South Carolina Academic Libraries (PASCAL)

2015: Co-Founder, College of Charleston Race and Social Justice Initiative

2014: Founding Director, Lowcountry Digital Library

2014: Co-Founder, Lowcountry Digital History Initiative

2001: Co-Founder, South Carolina Digital Library