Jesse White

Jesse Clark White (born June 23, 1934) is an American educator, politician and former athlete from the State of Illinois. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 37th Secretary of State of Illinois from 1999 to 2023. He was the longest-serving American to hold this office. A popular office holder, White declined to seek reelection in 2022 for a seventh term. Previously, he served as the Cook County Recorder of Deeds from 1993 to 1999 and in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1975 to 1993. Raised in Chicago, White attended Alabama State University on a sports scholarship. He was a minor league baseball player in the 1950s and 1960s. During that time, he also formed a youth sports and community organization, the Jesse White Tumbling Team, which has continued throughout his several careers. White went on to become a teacher and administrator in the Chicago Public Schools. Biography White was born in Alton, Illinois. He attended Alabama State University (then called Alabama State College), where he played baseball and basketball, and he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1957. While there, he got to know then local minister, Martin Luther King Jr. He served in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army from 1957–1959. In May 1995, White was inducted into the Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame. He was an all-city baseball and basketball player at Chicago's Waller High School (now Lincoln Park High School) and was inducted into the Chicago Public League Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in June 1995. In 1999, he was inducted into the Alabama State University Sports Hall of Fame. In 1959, White founded the Jesse White Tumbling Team to serve as a positive alternative for children residing in the Chicago area. Since its inception, more than 18,500 young men and women have performed with the team.