LibGuides: History of Jacksonville, FL: Clara White Mission and Eartha White Museum

Clara White Mission and Eartha White Museum

The Clara White Mission, located at 613 West Ashley Street, is best known for its food program, although the Mission has been home to many other social service programs throughout the years. A separate facility on the 2nd floor of the mission currently serves as a museum to its founder, Eartha White.

Image Courtesy J. Grey, CC BY NC

About Eartha White

Read a brief biography of Eartha White here. You must be logged into the Library through myFSCJ to access this content.

Photo of Eartha White with her mother Clara White, circa 1910. Photo courtesy of the Florida Memory Project.

Eartha White Museum
Includes photos and descriptions of the rooms and artifacts at the museum
Eartha M.M. White Collection in UNF Digital Commons
In 1975, the UNF Library acquired a portion of the estate of Eartha Mary Magdalene White (1876-1974). Dr. Daniel Schafer, a University of North Florida history professor, was instrumental in the acquisition. The collection contains personal correspondence, documents, notes, memorabilia, printed materials and photographs.

In Search of Eartha White, Storehouse for the People by Tim Gilmore
Call Number: F319.J1G55 2014 (Cecil, Downtown, Kent, North, South)
ISBN: 1499611773
Publication Date: 2014-09-15
(PRINT) Eartha White lived in the Mission she founded on LaVilla's West Ashley Street. She lived with the poor she helped, ate from the food she shared, and clothed herself from the donations she offered. Though she met with business leaders, mayors, governors, and presidents, she never separated herself from the poor it was her life's purpose to help.
The African American Heritage of Florida by David R. Colburn (Editor); Jane L. Landers (Editor)
Call Number: E185.93.F5C65 1995 (Deerwood, Downtown, Kent, Nassau, South)
ISBN: 0813014123
Publication Date: 1976-04-01
(PRINT) Pages 262-267 discuss the humanitarian work of Eartha White and her contemporaries.

Interview with Eartha White Museum Director Pat Bell

In October of 2018, Prof. Isaac Brown's Digital Media class interviewed Pat Bell, director of the Eartha White Museum, about the importance of White and her mission to the city's history. This video is the final project of one of the students in the class.

Clara White Mission and Building

The current mission was dedicated at 1947 (below). See more images from the dedication here.

Lost Theaters of Lavilla
Page down to learn the history of the Clara White Mission building. It was constructed in 1908 as the Bijou Theater. In 1910 it was reopened as the Globe Theater. In 1934 the abandoned building became the Clara White Mission.
Ashley Street Blues
Links to a dissertation by Peter Dunbaugh Smith on the history of African American entertainment in Jacksonville's LaVilla neighborhood. Pages 74-77 cover the Bijou Theater and pages 80-95 cover the Globe Theater.
100 Years in the Making
The Clara White Mission's account of its history