E.D. White exhibit coming to Houma

A traveling exhibit on Louisiana’s Chief Justice E.D. White makes its way to the Terrebonne Parish Main Library in Houma July 5-Aug. 5.

The free exhibit explores the life of the only U.S. Supreme Court Justice to hail from the Bayou State. White’s father, Congressman Edward Douglas White, is also remembered. The elder White served in the U.S. House of Representatives, and is a former governor of Louisiana.

Both men were sugar planters on lower Bayou Lafourche during the 1800s when issues such as infrastructure development, economic development, slavery and labor affected their political viewpoints.

Because of the connections between the Terrebonne region and E. D. White, The Terrebonne Parish Library System is one of the first library systems in the state to receive this newly created traveling exhibit.

During his years as Chief Justice, Justice White wrote over 700 opinions on matters that were vital and controversial in their day and still have an impact on American society, for better and for worse – issues such as anti-trust cases, labor rights, and freedom of speech.

The story of E.D. White is not just the story of one man, but also of a particular place and era in the history of the United States and more particularly of Louisiana.

The traveling version of Edward Douglass White: Louisiana’s U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice was produced by the Louisiana State Museum.