W.E. Whetstone

Who was W.E. Whetstone?

William Edwin "Ed" Whetstone was a businessman and civic leader from Monroe, the seat of Ouachita Parish in northeast Louisiana, who served as the Fifth Congressional District member of the Louisiana State Board of Education during the 1960s and 1970s.

Whetstone was born in the village of Oak Ridge in Morehouse Parish to Will Whetstone, a farmer, and the former Luta Craig. His formal education was limited to the Oak Ridge public school, and he was self-educated thereafter. On October 3, 1931, Whetstone married the former Josephine Elizabeth Hudson, daughter of C.R. Hudson and the former Annie Childres of Shreveport. The couple had one son, Eddie Craig Whetsone of Collinston, a village in Morehouse Parish.

From 1928–1977, Whetsone was employed by the former South Central Bell Telephone in, first, Shreveport, then New Orleans, Birmingham, and Monroe. He was a company district manager for fourteen years. He was a member of the Monroe Utilities Commission from 1975-1978.

Whetstone, a Democrat, was chosen by his colleagues as vice president and, then, president of the 11-member State Board of Education. His colleagues included the later state Education Superintendent Louis J. Michot of Lafayette. During part of Whetstone's tenure on the board, William J. "Bill" Dodd, a former lieutenant governor from Baton Rouge was the state superintendent. Michot unseated Dodd as superintendent in the 1971 Democratic primary. Other board of education members who served during Whetstone's tenure included Enoch T. Nix of Bossier City, J. Marshall Brown of New Orleans, and Fred L. Tannehill of Pineville.