Charles Trumbull White (August 12, 1868 – December 13, 1941) was a prominent American journalist, newspaper and magazine editor, war correspondent, explorer, world traveler, travel writer, and author. Known as Charley White during his early years while growing up, as an adult he dropped his first name and became professionally known simply as Trumbull White. During his lifetime, he became associated in one way or another with many prominent Americans, including Henry C. Wallace, Red Cross founder Clara Barton, Chicago socialite Mrs. Potter Palmer', Ernest Hemingway, publisher George Haven Putnam, and numerous leading journalists across the United States.
Early life and education
White was born in Winterset, Iowa on August 12, 1868, a son of John Trumbull White and Frances Anna McCaughan White. His father was a community leader and excelled in industry as senior partner in White, Munger, & Company, a woolen manufacturing enterprise. John died when Charley was 10 years old, and Charley continued living at home with his mother and siblings. Among his boyhood friends in Winterset was Henry C. Wallace, who later became publisher of Wallace's Farmer in Des Moines and also served as secretary of agriculture under presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge. Charley's first journalistic experience as a youth was writing a letter to the editor of the Iowa State Register in Des Moines which the editor published. When he graduated from Winterset High School in 1886, he delivered an oration entitled "Life's Drama".
