Rural Matters

Byron White, Wellington, Colorado, U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Byron White served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1962 until 1993. He graduated from Wellington High School in Colorado and attended the University of Colorado on a scholarship, where he graduated first in his class in 1938. He held varsity letters in football, basketball, and baseball where he earned the nickname, "Whizzer" (a name he later came to despise). White played professional football in 1938 with the Pittsburgh Pirates (now Steelers) and in 1940 and 1941 with the Detroit Lions. In 1954 he was named to the National Football Hall of Fame.

White won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, and then returned to the United States to complete a law degree at Yale. Upon graduation from Yale, White clerked for Chief Justice Fred Vinson. Thereafter, White returned to Colorado and engaged in private law practice.

White organized the Colorado presidential campaign for John F. Kennedy. Kennedy appointed White deputy attorney general in 1961. A year later, Kennedy selected White for a position on the Supreme Court. He held that
position until his retirement in 1993. He returned to Colorado where he lived until his death in 2002.

Byron White was nominated as a Golden Egg by Joseph Skerjanec, Principal, Fleming School, Fleming, Colorado.

You can view more people who attended rural schools and made significant contributions to society on the Rural "World Changers" Resource Page.

Posted by Robin Lambert at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"World Changer" is our term for the accomplished people who come from rural communities and schools all across the country.

We have set up a forum here on Rural Matters to celebrate those people.

But we're not going to put this list together on our own. We need your help.

We're looking for people who attended rural schools in the 20th (or 21st) century and have made recognized contributions in the arts, academics, business, entertainment, government, human rights, science, technology, and other public fields.

The forum is already started. You'll find the list of people from rural communities who have made important contributions to the world on the Rural "World Changers" Resource Page (in the column on the left on the main page of Rural Matters).

With your help, we will keep building this list.

So send us more names of people from rural communities who have made significant contributions. Let us know where the person is from and something about their accomplishments and contributions.

You can email your nominations. Or you can send your nominations as a Guest Author (click on the Guest Author button in the right column of the main Rural Matters page).

As we get new rural "World Changers" we'll feature them, temporarily, on the main page of Rural Matters. And, we'll keep a permanent running list, in alphabetical order, on the Rural "World Changers" Resource Page.

We want to let everyone know how many people who have shaped the world got their start in a rural school.

This will be fun. We're looking forward to hearing from you.

Posted by Robin Lambert at 02:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)