In addition to her work as a soprano, White had a brief career as an actress, appearing opposite Enrico Caruso in the silent film My Cousin (1918).

Born in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, White graduated from Brighton High School in her native city at the age of 17.

[1] She studied singing in Boston with Weldon Hunt for five years before pursuing further vocal training in Naples, Italy with Frederick Roberti and Carlo Sebastiani.

[3] At that opera house she had further successes in the title role of Verdi's Aida, Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, and Margherita in Boito's Mefistofele.

[5][6] Her other repertoire in Chicago included Barbara de la Guerra in Herbert's Natoma,[7] Mozart's Countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro[3] and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni,[3] Giulietta in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann,[3] Santuzza,[3] and the title roles in Puccini's Manon Lescaut,[3] Ponchielli's La Gioconda,[8] and Aida;[3] the latter role being the part for which she was best known both in Chicago and in Europe.

[3] In addition to her work as a soprano, White had a brief career as an actress, appearing opposite Enrico Caruso in the silent film My Cousin (1918), one of only two movies the tenor made.