White, James Taylor.

Physician and naturalist, James Taylor White (1867-1912) served as a surgeon for various ships on the United States Revenue Cutter Service (a predecessor of the United States Coast Guard), mainly on the Bering Sea Patrol from 1889 through 1903.

White was the son of John Wesley White and grew up in California, graduating from the University of California Medical College in 1888. In 1895, White was surgeon for Pacific Mail Steamship Company on cruises to China and Panama. During 1898 and 1899, he made four voyages between Tacoma and Hong Kong. In 1900, while on Revenue Cutter Service, White spent a year in the Yukon, treating measles and influenza epidemics in the Eskimo and Indian fishing camps. He returned to private practice in California in 1905. White also photographed and studied indigenous cultures on his many journeys.