Bertha Hale White

After serving for more than a decade in the party's National Office, in February 1924 White was named Executive Secretary of the SPA, becoming the first woman to hold that position.

[1] Upon graduation, White attended the Buckner Normal School in Salem, Arkansas and took correspondence courses from the University of Chicago to become a teacher.

[2] During this interval, White served as the office manager for the Socialist Party at its national headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, handling the day-to-day affairs of the organization.

"[3] The NEC named Assistant Executive Secretary White as his replacement on February 9, making her the first woman to head the Socialist Party of America.

In 1959, Bertha Hale King donated the extensive papers of her late husband to the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., where they are today available for the use of scholars without copyright restriction.