Edward Douglass White

November 3, 1845 Lafourche Parish, Louisiana
May 19, 1921 Washington, D.C.

• Confederate soldier until 1863 when he fell ill from starvation during the Union siege of Port Hudson, La.
• United States Senator 1891 to 1894
• Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1894 to 1910
• Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1910 to 1921

Those are some of the resume highlights of our namesake EDW. As the first Catholic Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and the second Catholic Chief Justice, White has been honored by the Knights of Columbus many times. There are at least 2 councils bearing his name, us of course, and Edward Douglas White Council 3246 in Metairie, Louisiana [www.kofc3246.org]. As well as the Fourth Degree Edward Douglas White Assembly 398 in Attleboro, Mass. Those are not misspellings; we are the only Knight unit that spells White’s middle name with two s’s. The Edward Douglas White high school in Louisiana joins that club. However we are not in error, the Supreme Court, the U.S. Congress and the state of Louisiana use the double ending. Is this heavy information? Of course not, but it’s a little bit of flavor. Much like the candy White would keep in his pockets to give to the many children he’d come across throughout the day.

His contemporaries, including his political and judicial opponents, agree to the kindness and moral character of this man. The quality of his tenure as chief justice is mixed. He is famous for his “rule of reason” decision in 1911 in the Standard Oil and American Tobacco anti-trust cases. Basically the Rule of Reason held that not all monopolies were illegal, just those that unreasonably restrained trade. An ill effect of the monopoly had to be shown.

Perhaps his best heritage to Catholics and to the United States was in simply conducting most of his life and career in a manner that brought him honor and respect. As a Catholic law professor remarked on White and another Catholic Supreme Court justice, Pierce Butler: “Each proved to protestants that they did not need to fear Catholics in high positions in the federal government. They disarmed and confused bigots. ...They showed...every Catholic boy...could aspire to great office in the judiciary.”

There have been ten or eleven Catholics to serve on the Highest Court. The eleventh, Sherman Minton, converted to Catholicism after retiring from the court. Five of those eleven make up the majority of the current court: Chief Justice John Roberts, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. The Roberts’ court is truly a high mark for Catholics.

The first Catholic appointed Chief Justice was Roger Taney of Calvert County, Maryland, who served from 1836 to 1864. He of the infamous Dred Scott Decision.