Queer Places:
Brompton Cemetery, Fulham Rd., London SW10 9UG, United Kingdom
Harold D. Jennings White (1863 - December 14, 1925) was an active psychoanalyst and a prominent figure associated with early British sexology and reform
circles, maintaining a long-standing involvement with the British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology (BSSSP). The BSSSP was an organization originally
connected to progressive intellectual movements and early efforts advocating for more rational attitudes toward human sexuality and homosexual law reform.
Jennings White's personal life was anchored by his marriage to Gertrude Dinely White, who survived him until her passing in 1941.
Having joined the BSSSP in 1919, Jennings White immersed himself in its academic and administrative operations. He was an active participant in the
discussions held by the Heterosexuality Study Group and served as the secretary of the literature subcommittee. His organizational contributions were
formally recognized when he was elected to the BSSSP Executive Committee in 1922, a position he held until around the middle of 1931. Even after stepping
away from his active seat on the committee, his commitment to the organization persisted, as demonstrated by his offer to lead a proposed revival of the
Inversion Study Group.
Jennings White also contributed significantly to the society's public lecture and publication programs. He delivered a lecture to the membership on
"The Incest Problem" in June 1923, followed by another presentation in October 1925 titled "Some Psychological Causes of Sexual Inversion." This later
lecture served as the foundation for his official society pamphlet, Psychological Causes of Homoeroticism and Inversion, published under the BSSSP's
auspices in 1925.
Following his death on December 14, 1925, Jennings White was laid to rest in Brompton Cemetery, located in West Brompton within the Royal Borough of
Kensington and Chelsea, Greater London, England. Through his scholarly writing, committee leadership, and engagement with study groups focusing on
inversion and sexuality, Jennings White left a notable footprint in the history of early psychoanalytic approaches to human sexuality.
References:
Other references:
- British Sexological Society Collection (Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin): Preserves organizational records, correspondence, and operational documents covering the society from its creation in 1913 through the 1940s, including specific files related to Harold Dinely Jennings White (Folders 3.9 and 11.6).
- The British Library Archives: Holds historical documentation, membership records, and distributed literature concerning the British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology (BSSSP).
- Jennings White, H.D. (1925). Psychological Causes of Homoeroticism and Inversion. Published under the auspices of the British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology (BSSSP Pamphlet No. 15).
- Weeks, Jeffrey. Coming Out: Homosexual Politics in Britain, from the Nineteenth Century to the Present. Provides broader context on the origins of the BSSSP from its late-nineteenth-century roots and its progressive intellectual framework.
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