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A.D. White Research Society honors area history

ITEMS SHOWN — Members of the A.D. White Research Society show some of the historical pieces the society has. -- Contributed

AVELLA — Some Washington County residents may remember A.D. White.

As a principal for what is now the Avella Area School District, he formed lasting relationships with his students, loved history and, in retirement, continued to give back to the community in the form of research, articles and books about the history of the Avella area.

“He’s legendary. I’ve listened to the oral tapes we have, and though I didn’t meet him, I wish I had. He sounds like an incredible person,” said Terry Wiegmann, a board member for the A.D. White Research Society.

Wiegmann’s mother is from Independence and her father is from Avella, giving her roots to the area that date back generations.

The call-out for additional volunteers in January 2024 is what led Wiegmann to the nonprofit.

“We’re looking for a board and a new generation to lead the organization into the future,” Wiegmann said. “So far, we’ve done an inventory … with the intention of digitizing and eventually creating a searchable database.”

They have volumes of family histories, ship manifests, census lists, obituaries, legal certificates and more.

A.D. White died in 1994 at the age of 99, but he and sisters Kathryn Campbell Slasor and June Grossman-Welch spent years gathering artifacts, interviewing residents and telling the stories of those that might have otherwise been lost in the past.

The sisters formed the A.D. White Research Society in order to preserve all of their material, and with the help of some of White’s sons, they secured ownership of the old Avella train station as a home base.

White’s son, Wil White, is the president of the board. He’s the youngest of 10 children and said he still encounters people with a story about his father that is new to him.

“He did a lot of traveling, and he was appointed the historian of the family at one point. He interviewed family members from the 1930s who were still alive and wrote a lot of it down,” White said.

Wiegmann has heard many of those stories on the 219 cassette tapes packed with interviews and information.

“So much of the oral history collected are verbatim quotes. This isn’t fiction. It’s inspiring and to hear their accounts makes things so real,” Wiegmann said.

Over the years, volunteers have worked to organize and file the material.

Eventually, they’ll need volunteers to do everything from sorting to scanning information but for now, Wiegmann said they are looking for a few targeted individuals with expertise.

“We need tech support to help build out our website, we need administrative support to help organize the nonprofit information and funding to purchase software and equipment to make this information available to everyone,” Wiegmann said.

Board members and volunteers have a passion for carrying on the legacy of A.D. White and are hopeful others will join them.

“I’ll never know A.D. White, but I know what a treasure we have,” Wiegmann said. “There are people here that are related to these families, and they might just not know it.”

Donations are accepted via mail at P.O. Box 562, Avella, Pa., 15312. The A.D. White Research Society hosts open houses and attends local events across the county. Visit its Facebook page for up-to-date information.

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