Charlie White Oral History Available Online!

Last Spring OSU Alum Charlie White was one of five panelists who shared his story regarding the desegration of the OSU Men’s College Basketball team during the 1960s.

Charlie White transferred to OSU as a junior in 1964 to join the Men’s Basketball Team as the first African-American player recruited on scholarship and only the second ever on the team. In his first year he earned the Attitude and Leadership Trophy and was the second highest scoring player for the season. The next season, as team captain, he led the Beavers to the Pacific 8 Conference Championship. In 1967 he became OSU’s Assistant to the Freshman Coach.

We were lucky enough to interview him in-depth not only about his experiences at OSU and in Corvallis, 1964-1967, but also about growing up in Detroit during the 1950s; joining the military and playing basketball oversees; his journey from junior college in Southern California to OSU; his work for the Crown-Zellerbach manufacturing facility in Antioch, California, with the specific job to integrate the workforce; and his life-long passion for basketball.

Beaver Yearbook, 1965-1966

Interview Information:

Date: May 18, 2011
Place: Corvallis, OR
Length: 00:47:49 or 00:48:08
(depending on media player used)
Interviewee: Charlie White
Interviewer: Dwaine Plaza
Transcriber: Natalia Fernández

Click Here for the Transcript
Click Here for the Audio File

Related Material: Baseketball Desegregation Event and Norm Monroe Interview