James E. White, III, Class of ‘69, was recently named Historian of the Year by the North Carolina Society of Historians during their annual banquet held in Spencer, NC. 

White graduated from Louisburg College and UNC-Chapel Hill with a degree in History. The former public school teacher and principal also worked as an educator at Pamlico Community College, Mount Olive University. He also served as editor of the Pamlico County News. 

He has written and published at least 13 books on eastern North Carolina. They include “Portsmouth Island: A Walk in the Past;” “Paradise Lost;” “Portsmouth Island: Image of America;” “School Mom of Portsmouth Island;” “Nina Dixon Remembers Portsmouth Island,” and more. 

His oral history collection at UNC-Chapel Hill contains 1150 oral interviews he and his students collected of World War I, World War II, Korean, and Vietnam soldiers. He is now working on slavery and the slave trade on Portsmouth Island and hopes to publish a book on that subject in the spring. 

Including Historian of the Year, his works have earned him 13 awards from the North Carolina Society of Historians. Among those are the Journalism Award, the Historical Award, President’s Award, Lighthouse Aware, and Multimedia Award. 

Congratulations, Jim!