Certificate, Commemorative - Governor Frank White
Object number1999.004.07d
Dateca 1980
OriginLittle Rock, Arkansas
MediumPaper, ink
DimensionsOverall: 8 x 10 in. (20.3 x 25.4 cm)
Credit LineOld State House Museum collection
Terms
Frank Durward White was born on June 4, 1993 in Texarkana, Texas. In 1961, White married Mary Blue Hollenberg of Little Rock and subsequently moved there. White became a prominent part of Little Rock’s business and social life. He served as president of the Little Rock Jaycees from 1965-1966, was active in Campus Crusade for Christ, and served on the Arkansas Children’s Hospital. White divorced Mary Blue Hollenberg in 1973 and married Gay Daniels in 1975. White also served as a member of Governor David Pryor’s cabinet, and in 1975 White was named director of the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission (now the Arkansas Economic Development Commission). In 1977, he became president of Capital Saving and Loan Co. in Little Rock, and in 1980 he ran against Bill Clinton for governor. White won the election and became the forty-first governor. During his tenure he obtained funding to start a vocational-technical education division in the Department of Education and increased funding for the Department of Correction. White’s administration was defined by Act 590 of 1981 which required schools to go give balanced treatment to evolutionism and creationism. This received national attention in McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education. Charges that White was beholden to large utility companies and he firing the top three leaders in the Department of Energy on his first day in office also left a lasting impression on his administration. White lost to Clinton in the 1982 election for governor. In 1988, White was appointed to State Banking Commissioner by Governor Mike Huckabee. White died on May 21, 2003 and is buried in Little Rock.
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