WHITE HOUSE WORKERS

Making the White House Work

Marjorie A. Hunt

1 duln

7 feellike

a servant

to

a man.

^Ifelt I

was a servant

to

my government,

to

my country.

"

Alonzo

Fields,

maitre

d'

Fornearlytwocenturies, since the timeoi

John

Adams,

the

White House

has

been

the

home

of

American

presidents.

A

powerful national symbol, it isauniquely private

and

pub-

lic place

—

at

once

a family residence,a seat of the

government,

aceremonial center

and

an his- toric building

and museum.

()ver the\c.us.

hundreds

of people have

worked behind

the s<enes to

make

the White-

House

function,preparing family meals, serving elaborate State Dinners,polishing floors, tend- ing the

grounds and welcoming

visitors.Today, a

household

staff ol 96 full-lime domestic

and maintenance employees —

including butlers, maids, engineers,

housemen,

^chefs, electricians, Hoiists. ushers,

doormen,

carpenters

and plumbers — work

together

under one

roof to operate, maintain

and

preservethe

132-room

I'.xei utive Mansion.

In ielebration ol the 200th anniversaryof the White- House-, the

"Woi

kers at the

White

Ilouse"

program

explores the skills

and

folklife of former

Whin- House

workers

—

theiroccupa- tional techniques.⁽ustoms, values, experiences

and

codes ofbehavior. ^It

examines

the distinc- tiveways in

which

the

While

House-, asa

unique

occupational setting, shapes

work

experien<^<-.

Ihe living

memory and

firsthandexperi- encesof theworkers participatingin this pro-

gram

span almost a century, 15presidential

administrations,

from

the presidenc) of William Taft to that of

George

Bush. Several have-

worked

at the

White House

for over 30 years,servingas

many

^as ten first families. Lillian Parks, a 95-year- old

former maid and

seamsiiess. started

working

fin President

Hoover

in 1

929 and

served

through

the

Eisenhower

administration; her

memory

of the

White House

goes backto 1909.

when

her mother,

Maggie

Rogers, joined the staffas a

maid

for PresidentTaft. "I was 12years old

when

^I first started going to the

White House

with

m\

mother," she says, "and I've

been

in

and

out of the

White House

evei since-."

The

oral histories

and

personal experiences ofthese workersoffer valuable insights into

how

larger patternsol

mk

ial

change

in the- nation

aflected employees' daih routines

and work

rela- tionships.

Alonzo

Fields, a92-year-old

former

maitre d'

who

joined the staff in 1931,

comments

eloquently

on

what it waslike to

encounter

seg- regation in the

White House and how

this situa- tion

changed

ovei his21 yearsof service.

'They had

separatedining

rooms —

Black

and

White.

We

^all

worked

together, but

we

couldn'teat together....Here in the

While House.

I'm work- ing for the- President.This is the

home

^{of the}

democracy

of the world

and

I'm

good enough

to

handle

the President'sfood

—

tohandle the President's food

and do

everything

—

but ^I can noteatwith the- help." Preston Bruce, a share-

Workersat the WliiteHousehas beenmadepossiblethrough thecollaborationoj the WhiteHouse Historical Association which has dfunding from lln-NationalEndowmentp» theHumanities, andthesupportojtheJohnsonFoundation tTrust)andthe SmithsonianInstitution Special Exhibitionhum!.

Maitred'AlonzoFieldsandhisstaff of butlers,includingSamuelFicklin,

John Pyeand ArmsteadBarnett, standreadyto serveatea during the Roosevelt administration.Photo courtesyAlonzoFields

Maitred'AlonzoFieldsgreets President and ^Mrs.Truman. PhotocourtesyHarryS.

TrumanLibrary

cropper'sson

from South

Carolina

who worked

asa

doorman

for22years, tellsofthe thrill he

feltin seeingthe struggle forcivilrights

from

inside the

White House. Others

speak of

how

the various

approaches

offirstfamiliesaffected their wavs ofservingcmests,

conducting

socialevents

and

interacting with stall.

Allofthe

emplovees

describe

working

atthe

White House

asa

unique

experience

where

work,with itsvarietyof stagedevents

and

back- stage supportforthem, hasastrong"performa- tive"element. Butlers

and

chefs,for

example,

MarjorieHuntiscurator<>/the "Workers<<itheWhite House"program.Sheisafolkloristandresearchassociate

mth theCentet forFolklifeProgramsamiCulturalStudies.

talk about

how

it isdifferent

from working

ina luxury hotelorfor awealthyfamily, citingevery- thing

from

securityconcerns to the highstan- dards

demanded

bythe realization thatone's

performance

reflects

on

thepresident

and

the nation. "This isthe president'shouse.

You

arc-

serving the world,entertaining the world. It's go) tobe right," said

Alonzo

^Fields. "You're

working

forthe highest office in the land."said

doorman

Preston Bru<e. "You

know

thatwhatever

you do

is

going

to affect the familyupstairs."

To work

at the

White House

was toserve asaguardian of the national

honor —

thisethos

informed work performances and

behavior ateverylevel.

While

first families are only

temporary

resi-

dentsat the

White House,

^the

household

^stall

It's

not a hotel

it's

not a private home,

it's

not a museum. But on the other hand

^{it's all}

^{those things together}

^"

— Alfredo Saenz,

^butler

r>

v

-

ijrft

^*

Chef HenryHallerpreparesadinnerintheWhiteHousekitchen. Photocour- tesy theWhiteHouse

are

permanent

employees.

Many

have

been

thereforover30years.

Fortheseworkers, the transition

from one

administration tothe next isa difficult

and

challenging time.

On

Inauguration Day, they must say farewellto a family the) haveserved foryears

and

begin adjusting to

new

waysof

doing and

atting,

new

^likes

and

^dislikes,

new

routinesol work. "You

had

to adapt. That's the thing that's

paramount,"

said maitre d' Alon- zo Fields,

who experienced

the dramatic shift in the

White House from

the formalelegance oi the

I[oovers to the exuberant infor- mality of theRoosevelt family.

Workers

not only

had

tolearn

new

routines, but

had

to build

new

relationships. "You

must

earn then liusi." said Mr. ^Fields.

hbhhh^m

PlumberHowardArrington crafted the elaboratemetalstandforTricia Nixon's weddingcake.Photocourtesy Richard M.NixonLibrary

When

^a

new

president goesin there, he doesn't

know

his

way

ai

on

in1.

and

^{he's watchingyou.}

And

you

must

assni e

him —

you

must

assure

him

by

body

language

—

that

you

have

no

interesl othet than in him, in the presi- denty.

You

don't ⁱaie who's president

—

you're

working

for the public. You're

a servant to the public. just like he is.

F.uh jobat the

White

^Ilouse

—

butler, ⁱar- penter, calligrapher or

cook —

hasa

unique

^sc-t ofchallenges,skills, tasks

and

responsibilities.

Workers

take pride' in theirabilities

—

^{the mas-}

ten ol special techniques, the

knowledge

ol

work

proiesses, the-

exen

ise of

proper decorum.

For a butler,serving a State-

Dinner

requires not only precisetiming

and

^etficiency, but theability to

conduct

one-sell withsenial grace-. "It's the pre- sentation,"said butler

Norwood

^{Williams. Door-}

men

^take pride in the- waytheytreat people, ^priz- ing theii abilitj to

remember names ^and make

White- 1louse- guestsleelcomfortable. ^"I

had my own

style oi receiving guests,"said Preston Bruce.

"I

remembered

everybody. 1greeted all the

We knew everybody.

It

was

like

a

close-knit

family. We worked

together and saw each other everyday. Everyday you

'd

be crossing some- one's path or working together on a

project.

And

^that's

_{one of} the hard-

est

things —

to

leave

that. ^"

— Eugene

Allen, niaitre d'

m

WhiteHouseworkersgettogetherfor a partyduring the"Trumandays." PhotocourtesyAlonzoFields

guests

when

they

came

to aState Dinner. Ifa person

came more

than

one

time. I didn't have to askhis

name."

Workers

speak ofefforts todevise innovative systemsforaccomplishingtasks

and

the satisfac- tion of

adding

their

own

personal touch to the

performance

oftheirjobs. Preston Bruce, for example, perceiveda

need

for a

more

effi(ient

way

togive escortcardstoguestscoining to for-

mal

eventsatthe

White House. Working

togeth- erwithcarpenter

Bonner

Arlington, he

designeda special table ofthe rightheight

and

sizetohold allofthe cards. Nearly20yearslater, itis still

known

as"Bruce'sTable."

Alonzo

Fields tells ofthechallenge

he

faced trying tofigure out

how

to

produce

"double-header"teas for Mrs. Roosevelt.

Mrs. Roosevelt,she

had

leas

—

five or

six

hundred

atea, twice in the

same

afternoon.

There'd

bea tea for

500

^.it

fouro'clock

and

atea for

500

at five o'clock.

Now,

you've gottoserve those people

and

get

them

outofthere.

And

there's

no one

there to tell you

how

to

do

it.

So one

time ^I spoke to Mrs.

Roo-

sevelt. I said,

'Madam, how do you want

thisteaserved?'

She

says, 'Oh, ^I don't

know.

I've

been

told it can'tbe done. But that's

what

I want.'

....Now. I

had

traveled. I

had

played

in bands. 1

had

played in circusbands,

and

I

had

seen the tents

and

the rings torn

down

within fiveseconds

and

a

new group come on

in that

same

ring....And

1said, 'I'll just

produce

thislike I

would

a three-iingcircus!'

And

that'swhat I

did.

For everyoneal the

White House,

qualities

HousekeeperShirleyBenderinspectsaguest room.PhotobyJosephScherschel,courtesy NationalGeographicSociety

ofdiscretion

and

loyalty, the ability to adapt to the different st)les<>l su(cessive first families,

and

awillingness to

perform

multiple^duties

were

key

work

skills.

"Hear

nothing,

know

nothing, sec noth- ing,

and keep

everythingto yourself!

That's the best qualityofa

good

butler,"

said

Alon/o

Fields. "You've got to be flexi- ble," said

former

maitre d'

Eugene

Allen.

"You

cannot

get set in yourways, betause your

way

^is not the

way

^itworks!"

At the

White House,

aspirit of

mutu-

al support

and teamwork

pervades the workplace.

Employees from main

differ- ent unitsjoin together

on

a regularbasis tohelpeach other prepare forspecial events oraccomplish tasks indaily

work

routines.

A prime example

ofthiscooper- ative spirit isaStateDinner,

which

requires thecoordinatedeffortsofchefs,

doormen,

butlers, florists,carpenters, ushers

and main

others. "Everyone works

like a team,"said part-time butlerNor-

wood

^Williams: "You have a crew that

comes

in

and moves

furniture

and

sets

up

tables.

You

have thecleaning staff, the storer n person, the chefs,the flowershop.

Even

the carpenters'

shop —

they

had

to

make some

dl those tables.

You know how

everyone pitchesin at acircus?That'sthe

way

it's done."

W<

irkersshare sic>iies ^<>l h<iw they help

one

another

meet

the diverse responsibilitiesoi theii

unique

workplace.

Plumber Howard

Arrington, lorexample, proudly ^tellsol

how

he wasable to assist a pastrychefbyusing hismetal-woiking skills to craft .in elaborate structure tosupport Tricia Nixim's

wedding

cake.

Lillian Parks

recounted

.in expei iencewith a relatedset ol themes.

1 never

knew from one

daytothe next what I'd be doing.

One

time, a fellow

on

the first floor said,

'We

nvv<\ you

down-

stairs tosewadrapery in the

Green

Par- lor.' Well, I picked

up my

^needle

and

thread

and

I went

down

there.

So

they

had

this 1 1-foot ladder in there,

and

the draperyin the ⁽Ireen

Room —

was

up

at

ihe lop

—

was

coming

off.

Now,

^I

went up

the ladder

—

twoSteps

from

^tin- top

— and

all I

had

wasthisneedle

and

Mf/mMfflA'Ai/M

thread tohold

me up

there.

And

the

housekeeper

looked in there,

and

sin- said. 'ThisI don'l want to see!'

And

she

left.

And Washington,

the fellow

who

was holding the ladder, he

had

a cough- ingspell!

He

started to

cough and

he

had

to walk awa\....Soyou

wonder why

I'm still living!

Inrc< ollcitions b\ the

household

staff,

themes

ol

home,

family

and

tradition run strong.

Employees

often speakof themselvesas a "fami- ly"

and

ofthe

White

Ilouse as a "second

home."

Main

ol theworkers .11e related

and

have held jobs passed

down through

generations. Asa

ilose-knit occupational

community,

^workers share^skills,

customs and

traditions that

grow

out of

common

experience

and

that are

shaped

by the

unique demands,

pressures

and

conditions

of theworkplace.

They

tell storieswith job-relat-

ed themes —

about

how

they

came

to

work

at the

White House,

their fust day

on

the job. their greatest challenges, funny incidents,

memorable

characters

and

relationshipswith first families.

They

share

nicknaming

traditions

and

take part

in

employee customs

like the

annual

Christmas party, thegolf

team and

staffreunions.

"We had

a lotoffunwith nicknames," said LillianParks.

"MelvinCarter,

he

wassmall,

and

everybodyused tocall

him

^{'Squirt.' I} was 'Maggie'sLittle Girl' or 'Mama.'

And Traphes

was'Paddlefoot' because

he walked

rightflat-footed."

"We had code names

for the Presidents," writes

Alonzo

Fields in hispublished

memoirs.

"President

Hoover,

because

he seldom

smiled,

we

^called 'Smiley.' PresidentRooseveltIgavethe

name

'Charlie Potatoes'.... President

Truman,

because ofhis

outspoken manner, we coded

as'BillieSpunk.' Mr.Fields, himself,was

nicknamed "Donald Duck"

bythe butlers

who worked

for

him

because ofthe

way he

sputtered

and

yelled

when something went

wrong.

"We had

a

good

time,"

said Lillian Parks. "People

would

say

some

ofthe funniest things,

make you

die.

And

^e/o

some funny

things.

There was

neveradullday."

At the

White House,

workersoften pass along

knowledge

of

work

techniques

and

rou- tines,traditionsofservice

and decorum, and

other codes of behavior

through word

of

mouth and

by imitation

and

example.

Experienced

"old-timers" teach

new

generations of workersby telling stories

and

jokes,sharing personalexperi- ence,

and demonstrating work methods. A

criti- cal

body

of

accumulated knowledge and wisdom

EugeneAllen,head butlerandmaitred'attheWhite Housefor34years, sortssilverwareinthe pantry.Photo courtesyGeraldR.FordLibrary

residesin theseworkers

who.

over

decades

of

change —

asfirstfamilies

come and go —

remain

akey source ofcontinuityatthe

White House. Acknowledged

authorities

on

everything

from where

teanapkinsare storedto

how

towel-

come

visiting dignitaries,they provideavaluable link

between

past

and

present.

"When

a

new

administration

comes

inthey're justas in the darkas

anybody

else

—

theydon't

know what

to do.

So

as butlers,

we

have

been

there.

We

can kind ofcarry

them

^along;

we

^{can help}

them

along." said

John Johnson,

a butlerat the

White House

for30years.

And

^{Lillian Parksrelated.}

"Alter I retired, the ushercalled

me and

said, 'Lillian. Iwishyou'd

come down

here

and

straightenthis

house

out!' It

was

allkind of

mixed

up....

You

see,I

grew up

in there. I

knew how

thingsworked."

Through

traditionsof teaching

and

learning, a cultureof

White House work

is

humanized, maintained and

adapted.

At the Festival,

White House

workerswill

come

togethertoshare theirlife

and work

with the public.

Through

their stories,values

and

experiences, they

add

a rich,

human

perspective tothe historical record ofa nationalinstitution.

FurtheiReadings

Bruce, Preston. 1984. From the Door o/ the White House.

New

York: Lothrop,Lee and Shephard Books.

Byington,Robert,ed. 1978. WorkingAmericans:

Contemporary ApproachestoOccupational FoMife.

Smithsonian Folklife Studies, no. 3. Washington, D.C.: SmithsonianInstitution Press.

Fields, Alon/o. HMO. A/y 21 Years in the While Home.

New

York: Coward-McCann, Im^.

Haller, Henry. 1987. The White House Family Cookbook.

New

York:

Random

House.

Johnson.Haynesand Frank[ohnston. 1975. TheWork- ing While House.

New

York: PraegerPublishers.

Parks. Lillian Rogers. 1961. A/y Thirty Years Backstairsat the White House.

New

York: Fleet PublishingCorpo-

ration.

S.mtino, [ack. 1989. Miles of^{Smiles, Years}of^Struggle:

Stories ojBlackPullmanPorters. Urbana:Universityol IllinoisPress.

Seale, William. 1986. ThePresident'sHouse. 2^vols.

Washington,D.C.:While House HistoricalAssoci.i-

tionwith thecooperation oftheNationalGeo- graphicSoiiety.

Workers ^at the White House

A Photo Essay by Roland Freeman

i

m ^"„„.

It was just

like

a bigfamily, a real bigfamily.

"

-

Lillian

Rogers

Parks

In

celebration of the 200th anniversary of the White ^House, the

Festival

of American

Folklife

presents

a

program about the occupational

lives

and folklore of White House workers. Through

living

presentations and demonstrations,

^this

program

reveals a

human dimension of the White House, through the

skills,

values and experiences of the men and women who worked

there.

The

follow-

ing pages feature

a

few of the main employees — ^maids,

^butlers,

^engineers,

chefs and others — who have helped

to

make the White House work and who

will

be sharing

theirlives

and

stories

with

visitors to

the

Festival.

liuliiml Freemanisadocumentary photographer ^tuhodoes researchin HIml; culturethroughouttin-AfricanDiaspora.

Since 1972, hehasbee?i nfieldresearchphotographer foi theSmithsonian\FestivalojAmericanFolklife.

"T _{grew up}

_{in the}

White House.

I

was 12

years old

when I

_firststarted

going

therewith

my mother and

I'vebeen in

and

_{out of}

the

White House

eversince.

"

Lillian RogersParks, a 95- year-oldformermaidand seamstress,firstbeganwork- ingintheWhiteHousewith hermotherin 1909, during theTaftadministration.

'hen I

was

directing a dinner, I'd seat thePresident

and

step

hark and

then give

a nod

to the

men

to start the service.

From

then

on

I teas directing

an

orches- tra. I

had my

stringshere

and my wind instruments

in the

hack and

I

mas

directing.

And

people

would watch and

they'd

marvel

at it, they really did. ^"

AlonzoFields,age92,servedasthe chiefbutlerandmaitred'attheWhite Housefor21yearsfromtheHooverto theEisenhoweradministration.

EugeneAllen startedworking in theWhiteHouseas a pantryman

forPresidentTrumanin 1952and rosethroughthe rankstobecome

chiefbutlerandmaitred'.He

retiredin 1986afterserving34 yearswitheightfirstfamilies.

1

he

word doorman

is a

misnomer.

Ididn't

run

outside

and open

doi>>\

and

that

was

it. Igreet- ed you

and welcomed

\<>u to the

White House.

I

made

a

show

that I

knew everyone

that

tame

in.

And

that

made them

feela lot better.

"

1 thought

I

knew how

to serve, hut the

White House

is different.

Other

plates you

ran make

mistakes

and you don

7 feelsohad. hut

you don

7 feel like

making

mistakes for thePresident

and

First

Lady

Allthat

was

in the

hark

oj

your mind when you

wereselling

up

for

any

activity.^"

Preston Bruce, asharecropper's sonfrom SouthCarolina,served as aWhiteHouse doorman from theEisenhowertothe Ford administration.

ii

IVJLy

job

was

to see that every floor

was

clean, every speck

of dust was

removed, that there

was

not

a

singleflower petal

on a mantle

ortable.