George Henry White was the last African-American Congressman of the Reconstruction Era, the only black member of the 55th Congress, an attorney, and a founding member of Whitesboro, New Jersey. Believing that economic power was the path to equality for Black Americans and that success required “an even chance in the race of life,” he sought to create self-sufficiency and financial growth for his race. When North Carolina instituted literacy tests for black voters, he concluded that people of color would not have equal opportunity there, and after leaving Congress in 1901 he started anew in the North. He moved from Washington to Philadelphia, continued his law work, and moved his family there in 1906. In Philadelphia, he worked to build institutions that would advance Black economic empowerment, including the People’s Savings Bank in 1906, the city’s first black-owned commercial bank, which helped the black community start businesses, save for education, and finance land purchases. His vision of a model community where black families could own land, build businesses, be independent farmers, and educate their children was realized in the establishment of Whitesboro, New Jersey, his most enduring legacy. In his post-congressional career, he also served as honorary trustee for Howard University, on the Board of Berean Manual Training Institute, as a trustee of North Carolina’s Biddle University, on the Board of Directors of Frederick Douglas Hospital, and as a director of the Home for the Protection of Colored Women. An early leader in the NAACP, he remained active in politics and became Assistant City Solicitor for Philadelphia in 1917. He died in his sleep on December 28, 1918, after a life of public service, and was interred in Philadelphia’s Eden Cemetery.