Researching Robert White

On July 17, 1962, he flew the X-15 to an altitude above 50 miles, thereby qualifying as an astronaut according to the United States definition of the boundary of space.

Born in the small town of Billmeyer, Pennsylvania, he received music lessons from his uncle. He toured with The Moonglows and played bass prior to making Detroit his home in 1960. He did session work at Anna Records and later became one of the three core guitarists at Motown, along with Joe Messina and Eddie Willis. There, he performed primarily as a rhythm guitarist and played lead guitar when particular melodies needed his distinct tone. He is best known for writing and performing the guitar riff on The Temptations' number-one hit single "My Girl", and performed on numerous Motown hits, including "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" and "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye, "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by The Supremes, and "My Cherie Amour" by Stevie Wonder.

Oscar Moore and Wes Montgomery were among White's influences. Among the guitars White used to record were the Gibson ES 335 and the Gibson L-5.

White moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1970s. He toured with The Temptations in 1980s and co-owned a recording studio. He died of complications from open heart surgery in October 1994 at age 57. He is featured in the 2002 documentary film Standing in the Shadows of Motown.

He was born in Peterborough, Canada West in 1856, the son of Thomas White and Esther Vine, and studied at McGill University. In 1882, he married Ruth McDougall. He worked for a wholesale merchant at Montreal and then the Bank of Montreal, before joining the Montreal Gazette in 1884. White later became chief editor for the paper. In 1888, he married Annie Barclay after the death of his first wife. He was first elected to the House of Commons in an 1888 by-election held in Cardwell after the death of his father. In 1896, he was appointed customs collector at Montreal. White ran unsuccessfully as a member of the National Government Party in Saint-Antoine—Westmount in 1940. He died in Westmount on December 5, 1944 at the age of 88.

Born in 1833 in Romney, Virginia (present-day West Virginia), White was the son of Hampshire County Court Clerk John Baker White and his second wife, Frances Ann Streit White. He was educated at the Romney Classical Institute, worked in his father's clerking office for six years, and studied jurisprudence under John White Brockenbrough at his Lexington Law School. White was admitted to the bar in 1854 and practiced law in Romney.

Prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War, White was commissioned a captain of the Frontier Riflemen, which later became Company I of the 13th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel A. P. Hill in 1861. In 1864, he was commissioned as a colonel in command of the 23rd Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment and served in that capacity until the unit disbanded in April 1865. Following the war, White returned to Romney and practiced law with John Jeremiah Jacob. He devoted his efforts to bringing economic development to the South Branch Potomac River Valley, which had been desolated during the war. White was one of nine members to revive the Romney Literary Society following the war, and in 1870, the organization successfully secured the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind for Romney. He served three terms on the school's board of regents. White also established the South Branch Railway Company and was its president until 1877.

White was elected as West Virginia's attorney general in 1876 and served from 1877 until 1881. He was charged with several important lawsuits, among the most prominent being the state's pursuance of tax liabilities from railroad companies. White argued the case before the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, which ruled in White's favor and ultimately enriched the West Virginia state treasury. He successfully secured the extradition of Elihu Gregg from Pennsylvania after Gregg was accused of burning the Preston County courthouse and fled. In Kitzmiller v. Williams, White argued in favor of the rights of former Confederate soldiers before the Supreme Court of the United States and secured a favorable verdict. Following his tenure as attorney general, White served two terms in the West Virginia House of Delegates. In 1885, he represented the state at the Washington Monument's dedication. White subsequently served two terms as the city solicitor of Wheeling, and was later counsel for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company.

In his later life, White was involved in Confederate memorial activities. He was a member of the Confederate Memorial Association board of trustees, the chief officer of the West Virginia Division of the United Confederate Veterans, and served as commander with the rank of major-general in the national organization. White was chairman of the construction committee for the Confederate Memorial Institute's Battle Abbey in Richmond. He was a Freemason and served as Grand Master of the state of West Virginia in 1875. White attended the 100th anniversary of the burial of George Washington in 1899 and was chosen by the Grand Lodge of Virginia as the Grand Marshal of the Masonic ceremonies while attending the observance at Mount Vernon. He also became a noted lecturer and orator in his later years. Following a prolonged illness, White died in Wheeling in 1915.

White was born in Scotland, the son of John White, a physician practicing in Paisley, Renfrewshire. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, and later served as a surgeon with the rank of captain in the Royal Navy of the Kingdom of Great Britain. He relocated to the Thirteen Colonies between 1720 and 1730, first to Delaware, then Pennsylvania, and finally as a "pioneer settler" in present-day Frederick County, Virginia between 1732 and 1735. White was one of two physicians practicing in Frederick County, and conducted his practice from his residence near Great North Mountain. White was part of a larger wave of Scottish physicians who settled in Virginia prior to the American Revolutionary War.

White was the progenitor of the White political family of Virginia and West Virginia. He was the father of Alexander White (1738–1804), United States House Representative, and the grandfather of Virginia judge Robert White (1759–1831) and United States House Representative Francis White (1761–1826).

White represented Frederick County in the Virginia House of Delegates (1789–1792) and served as a judge of the General Court of Virginia (1793–1831). Prior to his political and law careers, White served in the Virginia militia and Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

White was the grandson of Virginia pioneer settler and physician Dr. Robert White (1688–1752) and thus a member of the prominent White political family of Virginia and West Virginia. He was the nephew of United States House Representative Alexander White (1738–1804) and the brother of United States House Representative Francis White (1761–1826).

White was born in Romney, West Virginia in 1876 to Hampshire County Clerk of Court Christian Streit White (1839–1917) and his second wife Catharine Steele White (1837–1869) and was the grandson of Hampshire County Clerk of Court John Baker White (1794–1862). White was educated at Potomac Academy and began his career in public service at the age of 16 as Deputy Clerk of Court in his father's law office. He studied jurisprudence at the West Virginia University College of Law graduating in 1899.

He began practicing law in Romney and was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Hampshire County in 1912. White was elected to the position four times, and served terms from 1912 to 1928. In addition, he served as the Commissioner of School Lands and as one of the Chancery Commissioners for Hampshire County. White was elected to represent the Fifteenth Senatorial District in the West Virginia Senate in 1930 and served in the senate until 1934. In 1933, White was chairman of the senate's Judiciary Committee and he was also appointed to two special committees: one on economy and efficiency to study state and municipal government spending, and another to investigate the road commission's awarding of a contract for gasoline, oil, and grease to the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey over the Elk Refining Company.

Following a prolonged illness, White died in Romney in 1935 at the age of 59.

He was born in Stroud to pastoral superintendent James Charles White and Sarah Elizabeth Hoddle. He was a junior bank clerk from 1857 to 1859, when he became an accountant for the Bank of New South Wales in Deniliquin. From 1864 to 1869 he worked at Toowoomba, but he had financial difficulty and was a land manager at Mudgee, Kyneton and Coonamble from 1869 to 1880. On 2 May 1863 he married Eliza Jane Cowper, a niece of Sir Charles Cowper; they had four children. In 1880 White inherited money and a half-share in some Melbourne property, and was able to enjoy a life of leisure. In 1882 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Gloucester, serving until 1887. In 1888 he was appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council, where he remained until his death at Callan Park in 1900.

He began performing Irish songs on the radio in 1942 at the age of six on programs like Coast to Coast on a Bus and The Fred Allen Show; earning the nickname the "little John McCormack". In the late 1950s he embarked on a career as a concert tenor, and achieved great success as an exponent of early music by such composers as Handel, Bach, and Monteverdi during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. He has performed in concerts with several major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein and the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy, and has performed at the White House for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter.

In the mid 1970s White returned to his roots as a performer of Irish songs, and achieved fame internationally as an 'Irish tenor,' drawing comparison to John McCormack; he even performed on programs for BBC television in honor of the late tenor. He continues to perform in concerts with a diverse repertoire ranging from Irish ballads to opera to contemporary art songs and works from the classical tenor canon. Several composers have written works specifically for him, including Mark Adamo, William Bolcom, John Corigliano, Lukas Foss, Stephen Hough, Libby Larsen, Lowell Liebermann, Gian Carlo Menotti, Tobias Picker, Ned Rorem, and David Del Tredici. He has made several recordings for RCA Victor Records, mainly of Irish songs and ballads, and has also recorded a diverse repertoire for Virgin Classics, EMI, and Hyperion. A former faculty member of Hunter College and the Manhattan School of Music, he currently teaches on the voice faculty of the Juilliard School. He also works periodically as an interviewer for the radio station WQXR-FM.