Elizabeth Coleman White
Women's Heritage Trail
Elizabeth Coleman White was born in 1871, the eldest of four daughters, and is best known as a pioneer in the blueberry industry. She never married and spent most of her life in the New Jersey Pinelands at Whitesbog Village - her family's cranberry farm. She began searching for a companion crop to the cranberry. In 1911 she read "Experiments in Blueberry Culture" by Dr. Frederick V. Coville, a botanist with the USDA, and they began a long partnership. Five years later, in 1916, White produced the first commercial crop of blueberries!
Elizabeth White's interests did not end with the cultivation of the blueberry; she helped organize the New Jersey Blueberry Cooperative Association, was the first woman member of the American Cranberry Association, and became the first woman to receive a New Jersey Department of Agriculture citation for her outstanding contributions to New Jersey agriculture. White also formed her own corporation based upon the cultivation of ornamental plants such as the holly and Franklinia. She supported research concerning the teaching of disabled persons and became involved in founding a work-training school for the local population. In 1914, a report of the NJ Child Labor Committee singled White out for her concern for the health of the farm workers, whom she provided with nursing care. The report documented that workers at Whitesbog received better accommodations than other New Jersey farming bogs.
In 1923, White built her home, naming it Suningive. She surrounded the house with native Pineland plants. In her later years, her garden of native plants became world-renowned. Today, White would be considered a consummate conservation gardener. Elizabeth Coleman White passed away in 1954, but her unsurpassed legacy lives on.
"A rare privilege has been mine to bring birth and assist in guiding the first steps of a horticultural industry..."
--Taming Blueberries (Program of the Garden Club of NJ; Presented via WOR, Trenton, 1937)
Historic Whitesbog Village is on the New Jersey Women's Heritage Trail because of the innovative contributions of Horticulturist Elizabeth Coleman White.
The New Jersey Woman's Heritage Trail highlights a collection of historic sites located around the state that represent the significant contributions women made to the history of our state. The Heritage Trail brings to life the vital role of women in New Jersey's past and present.
Marker is on West Whitesbog Road 0.2 miles east of North Whitesbog Road, on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
