John Henry White Jr. (born November 10, 1933) is an American historian and museum curator.
In his early years, he explored tanneries and the Cincinnati Union Terminal, where he was particularly interested in the roundhouse.
His first job during high school entailed working on a gearbox assembly line at the Triumph Manufacturing Company.
He enrolled at Miami University, near his home, and during his college years worked at the McGowan Pump Company, where he learned drafting.
His early years at the Smithsonian Institution were spent working on ship models for Howard I. Chapelle, the curator of transportation.