George William Whitehurst, son of Calvert Stanhope and Laura Tomlinson Whitehurst, was born in Norfolk, Virginia on March 12, 1925. He attended local elementary schools and graduated from Maury High School in 1942. From 1943 to 1946 he served in the United States Navy, chiefly as an aviation radioman in the Pacific. After World War II he enrolled in Washington and Lee University, graduating with a B.A. in history in 1950. The following year he received his M.A. in history from the University of Virginia and in 1962 he earned his Ph.D. from West Virginia University in American Diplomatic History. Whitehurst joined the history faculty of the Norfolk Division, College of William and Mary, now Old Dominion University, in 1950. From 1963 to 1968 he served as Dean of Students. He also worked as a news analyst for WTAR-TV from 1962 to 1968. In 1968 Dr. Whitehurst was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia’s second district, and he spent the next 18 years in Congress. His principal congressional committee assignment was the House Armed Services Committee, but in addition he served a six-year term on the Select Committee on Intelligence, and two years on the Ethics Committee. He also served as a Delegate of the North Atlantic Assembly. Dr. Whitehurst retired from Congress in 1987 and returned to teach at Old Dominion University where he was named the Kaufman Lecturer in Public Affairs. He taught courses in political science and political history and was a widely popular teacher before retiring in 2020. During his years in Washington, Dr. Whitehurst published two volumes of his Diary of a Congressman in 1983 and 1985. Dr. Whitehurst was married to the former Jennette Franks, and he is the father of two children, Frances and Cal.

Note written by Special Collections Staff