Henrietta White (1856 – 16 July 1936), was the principal of Alexandra College, Dublin, a horticulturist, and social activist.

She created secretarial, housecraft and teacher training departments for both secondary and third level qualifications.

She was a member of the National Union of Women Workers of Great Britain and Ireland where she was a regular speaker at the conferences.

White also founded a hostel in Dublin in 1913 for girls working in the city and later, during the First World War she ran one for Belgian refugees.

A Protestant and a conservative, the archbishop of Dublin Dr John Gregg described her as a pioneer but not a revolutionary despite her campaign to admit women to lay offices in the Church of Ireland.

She worked to convince the keeper of the Royal (later National) Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Frederick W. Moore to allow women to get an education in the horticulture school.

[2][3][4][9][10] In 1905 White was only the second woman to be awarded an honorary Legum Doctor (LLD) from the University of Dublin.

[2][4] She was reluctantly succeeded by her deputy Katherine Preston who is creditted with consolidating White's achievement.