The White Brothers: From Steamers to Trucks

When "The Fight of the Century" took place in 1910, pitting Jack Johnson, the first African American heavyweight boxing champion against Jim Jefferies who was white, it was shrouded with racial tension and gave rise to the term "Great White Hope," referring to the need to find a white man capable of defeating the black champion. Walter, Windsor and Rollin White, owners of the White Company of Cleveland, the world's largest producer of steam cars and a recent convert to gasoline-powered automobiles, saw a great marketing opportunity. They offered a gasoline powered White automobile to Johnson and another White car to Jeffries, to use as pacing cars for their morning workouts. Jeffries lost the fight. Johnson became a wealthy celebrity-athlete, and the White Company of Cleveland went on to become one of the nation's four largest truck manufacturers. This is a story of one of the great pioneering families--in automobiles, trucks and sewing machines--as told by award-winning author Daniel Alef. [2,930-word Titans of Fortune Biographical Profile]