Career
Elizabeth Coleman White was the oldest of four daughters of two Quaker parents, Mary A. Fenwick-White and Joseph J. White. She was the only one to remain unmarried to pursue the family"s agricultural interest. After 1887, White worked in the bogs helping to supervise cranberry pickers during the fall harvest and was soon deeply involved in the farm"s operations.
During the winters, White continued her education with courses in first aid, photography, dressmaking, and millinery at Drexel University.
White died of cancer in Whitesbog, New Jersey, on November 27, 1954, at the age of 83. She was cremated at Ewing Crematory in Ewing Township, New Jersey.
Her ashes were distributed by airplane over the headwaters of Whitesbog in accordance to her will. In 1910, a controversy arose when an agent of the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) issued a report of child labor in the cranberry industry.
White argued and reported that children played in the clean air and would gladly work at the request of parents.
The controversy continued for four years until the NCLC printed a retraction in The Trenton Times and acknowledged White"s efforts as peacemaker. White also conceded that children missed school between the months of September and October due to the harvest, and believed in an informal education for those who missed school due to this reason. White worked with the Women"s Home Mission Council to provide babysitting services for younger children and informal educational and recreational programs for older ones.
