[3] His parents were Ada Perry and Ferry White, his father worked as a pattern maker for a gray iron foundry.
[6][7] In 1934, he received a master's of science degree in architecture from the University of Michigan's Rackham School of Graduate Studies.
[3] In 1939, White left Tuskegee and moved to Detroit, where he opened a private practice in the Michigan Chronicle Building.
[3] His office hired local Black architects, draftsman, and engineers, including Helen Eugenia Parker.
[3] In 1943–1944, he worked for Wayne County Better Homes, Inc., a Booker T. Washington trade association project, where White designed 10 floor plans.
[3] White served as president of the National Technical Association from 1949 until 1951, the organization was primarily made of African American engineers, scientists, and architects.
[3] He was also a member of the Economic Club of Detroit, the National Society of Professional Engineers, the NAACP, the Albany Inter-Racial Council, and the Booker T. Washington Business Association.
Many of White's buildings in the Detroit neighborhoods of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s during the time of city "urban renewal" projects.