His free school has made such a difference in the lives of so many that a street in Mobile, Alabama was honorarily named after him in 2015.
Mr. White moved to Mobile, Alabama from Whitfield, Mississipi, first working part-time in a barber shop before opening his own single-chair barbershop in the corner of a shoe shine shop in 1944.
Growing up, he hadn't liked seeing his parents and other sharecroppers constantly in debt to the tenant farmers, so he wanted to do something else.
Over the years, kids kept asking him how to become a barber, too, so in 1960, he opened White's Barber College.
Classes were free and graduates would receive a barber's license, but only once they'd secured a job.
"I want to teach them to be a man or be a lady, be respectful, be honest, and depend on divine guidance for their success."
I think after 57 years, Mr. White can rest assured that he's succeeded.
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