Loraine White

Feb 26, 2022

in 1930-1959 (Born), African Americans, Athletics, Born or raised in Newark (high school or before), Education, Museums and Libraries

c. 1947

In 1980, Loraine White became a football coach at Weequahic High. She was New Jersey’s first female coach and was said to be the first Black woman to become a high school football coach in the United States. She has been inducted into the Newark Athletic Hall of Fame.

Loraine (often misspelled Lorraine) was a 1964 Weequahic graduate also attended Clinton Place Jr. High. When she was hired by Weequahic as a phys ed teacher in 1970 she said it was a clerical error, as “not all” of her memories of Weequahic were “pleasant”. However, despite that start she spent her whole career at Weequahic.

1964 Weequahic Yearbook

Loraine quickly became girls basketball coach for four years. In 1975, she was hired as a football coach for junior varsity. She used dance exercises to help the football players. She also led the dance group at Weequahic and was drug education coordinator. In 1992, she was inducted to the Newark Athletic Hall of Fame. She said, “The honor does not belong to us exclusively, they come about through blessings. This induction is a shared one with our family members, every coach, every recreation leader, every advisor we’ve ever had.”

By 2002, Loraine was health and social services coordinator at Weequahic and worked on a project to get prom dresses provided for students. She taught at Weequahic for a total of 41 years.

Her married name is now Loraine White Garretson.