Longtime Gordon State College Supporter Provides a Commemorative In-Kind Gift
Gordon State College Foundation trustee, loyal donor
This maquette has the distinction of being the first of 15 scale model sculptures created to fund a project whose intent was to create a life-sized monument of FDR. The final monument was unveiled at Dowdell’s Knob, one of FDR’s favorite spots, on April 12, 2007, the 62nd anniversary of the former president’s death. The other 14 maquettes are owned by citizens and corporations throughout Georgia and the United States.
White, now a member of the Roosevelt Warm Springs (Ga) Advisory Committee, is a long-time supporter of GSC. His first scholarship donation in 2011 was named for his parents, Bill and Doris White. The scholarships are given to Upson County High School graduates as a thank you to the citizens of Upson County for the wonderful public education White and his siblings received.
In 2011, White created the first Roosevelt Scholarship, commemorating an important speech FDR made at the college in 1938. According to a historical marker erected in Barnesville in 2009, as many as 50,000 people gathered in the stadium of Gordon Military College for an address by President Roosevelt, dedicating the Lamar Electric Cooperative, a project of the New Deal’s Rural Electrification Administration (REA). This speech launched rural electricity in Georgia through the Rural Electrification Association (REA) and Lamar Electric Membership Corporation (EMC).
“I was looking for a way to permanently enshrine this historic event with the remembrance of what actually happened,” said White. “Lamar County was the first in Georgia to get electricity, one of the central accomplishments of FDR’s presidency.”
In 2000, White and a group of Georgians had an idea to honor FDR for turning on the lights in West Central Georgia. They brought the idea to the FDR Warm Springs Advisory Committee who spearheaded a grassroots public campaign to fund the monument. Part of the fundraising effort was achieved through the sale of 1/16 scale bronze replicas of the statue. Atlanta sculptor, Martin Dawe of Cherry Lion Studios, was selected through a statewide competition to create the statue and the limited edition replicas. Additional funds were raised through donation boxes at all state parks in Georgia.
The historically accurate monument is a life-size depiction of FDR in leg braces, seated on a car seat looking out over Pine Mountain Valley. FDR has never been depicted this way before.
“I am proud to have had a part in bringing the statue to life, White continued. “The maquette will be housed in a prominent position on the first floor of the GSC library and it is hoped by doing so, it will serve as a permanent reminder of the connection FDR had to Gordon State College.
White took his philanthropy to a new level by presenting the single largest gift of $255,000 to the Gordon State College bringing his total lifetime gifts to the College to over $300,000, His contributions, have created five Bill and Doris Endowed Scholarships and five Franklin D. Roosevelt Endowed Scholarships. In addition, White created the Constance H. Chinery Fine & Performing Arts Endowed Fund in memory of White’s aunt and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Lecture Series.
“Mr. White is always willing to provide counsel and guidance to the college,” said Montrese Adger-Fuller, Vice President of Advancement, External Relations and Marketing, and Executive Director of the Gordon State College Foundation. “His gifts will have a huge impact in the lives of others, and he has continuously given
GSC offers 11 four-year degrees and 16 associate-level degrees, which include multiple baccalaureate pathways for students. With an enrollment of over 3,000 students, GSC offers an intimate academic setting in state-of-the-art classrooms and laboratories. In this setting, students receive individualized attention that only a small college with dedicated faculty and staff can provide.
Founded in 1852, GSC is a member of the University System of Georgia with a distinctive legacy of excellent scholarship and service.