in 1874 white started studies at howard university, founded in 1867 in washington, d.c. as a historically black college open to men and women of all races. he studied classical subjects to be certified as a schoolteacher. in addition, he worked for five months at the 1876 centennial exposition in philadelphia, which had visitors from around the world, and got to see something of its thriving black community, some of whose ancestors had been free since shortly after the american revolutionary war, when pennsylvania abolished slavery.