William Sylvester White, (July 27, 1914 – February 2, 2004) was a prosecutor, a member of the first cohort of African-Americans commissioned officers in the U.S. Navy, and the second African-American to serve as presiding judge for the Cook County Juvenile Court.

Early life

Born in Chicago, Illinois, on 27 July 1914, William Sylvester White Jr. was the only child of William S. White Sr., a chemist and pharmacist, and Marie Houston White, a public school teacher. Graduates of

Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...

, his parents imparted on William Jr. the importance of education. William Jr. attended Hyde Park High School in Chicago, then went on to the University of Chicago, where he received a BA in 1935, and a JD in 1937. Upon graduation, he was hired as an assistant

U.S. attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the Northern District of Illinois. William Jr. married George Vivian Bridgeforth and had twin daughters, Carolyn Marie White Craven and Sala Marilyn White Steinbach.

Golden Thirteen

At the outbreak of World War II, many educated African Americans found the calls to defend a democratic ideal in Europe rang hollow as they couldn't enjoy the same benefits in the United States, and launched the Double V campaign to demand that if their sons were willing to sacrifice their lives in the war, they should be given the same opportunities for advancement as the rest of the country. As a result, by the time William enlisted in the Navy in October 1943, the Navy had decided to implement a trial program, selecting 16 African American sailors as Officer Candidates as a segregated class, now known as the Golden Thirteen. Following William's commissioning in February 1944, he served as a Public Affairs Officer at Ninth Naval District and Naval District Washington until he was released from active duty as a Lieutenant Junior Grade in 1946.

Later life and death

After the war William returned to his role at the U.S. Attorney's Office, then headed by

Otto Kerner Jr. Otto Kerner Jr. (August 15, 1908 – May 9, 1976) was an American jurist and politician who served as the 33rd governor of Illinois from 1961 to 1968 and a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ...

Upon Kerner's election as Governor in 1961, William would serve as an assistant

state's attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a loc ...

for Cook County. In 1964, William was appointed as judge for the Cook County Juvenile Court, eventually rising to become the second African-American presiding judge of the court, and honored by the

Cook County Bar Association The Cook County Bar Association (CCBA), the nation's oldest association of African-American lawyers and judges, was founded in Illinois in 1914. Arkansas attorney Lloyd G. Wheeler, moved to Illinois in 1869 to practice law and he, along with 31 o ...

as Judge of the Year in 1972. In 1980 William served as a justice of the Illinois Appellate Court until his retirement in 1991. William Sylvester White passed away at his home in Hyde park at the age of 89 on February 16, 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, William Sylvester 1914 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American naval officers African-American judges African-American United States Navy personnel Illinois state court judges Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court Lawyers from Chicago