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After working as a household manager and social secretary in New York, Elizabeth Jaffray joined the Taft White House as its housekeeper in 1909. She remained on the staff into the Calvin Coolidge administration.
Harris and Ewing (published in Literary Digest, December 1926)
Horse-drawn carriage at South Portico, c. 1920-26. Household manager and social secretary Elizabeth Jaffray refused to adapt to the use of motor cars, and rode to market in this carriage.
The White House
White House laundry, 1926. Three women were assigned to do the laundry by hand, and then hang it out to dry on the South Lawn, behind the kitchen.
Harris and Ewing (published in Literary Digest, December 1926)
Copper skillet, c. 1910. When this copper skillet was in use, the White House kitchen force consisted of one cook and two helpers. The pan may have been used to prepare everything from griddle cakes and parsnip fritters to caramel custard and prune pudding for the president’s table.
Lent by The White House
Electric call-button box, c. 1930. The earliest communication system in the White House was a set of call bells, but by the mid-1800s, the president could summon a staff member by means of an “electric” (battery-operated) device. Wiring the White House for electricity in 1891 paved the way for simple call-button boxes such as this set.
Lent by The White HouseAbout this Gallery
A Day in the Working White House: 20th Century: "Every day is wash-day at the White House,” housekeeper Elizabeth Jaffray recalled. The three maids assigned to the laundry when Jaffray first arrived in 1909 did not use electrical appliances; the immense amount of daily washing was done manually, then pressed with flat-irons. At least once a day, while the laundrywomen were at their tasks downstairs, a houseman ran a large carpet sweeper over the floor coverings throughout the house. A thorough vacuuming occurred each Saturday morning. The head cook and two or three assistants prepared almost all the food, not only for the president’s table, but also for receptions, state dinners, and for the servants. Kitchen staff washed dishes and flatware by hand, with the aid, after 1920, of a silver-cleaning machine.
For more than one hundred years, White House Social Secretaries have demonstrated a profound knowledge of protocol and society in Washington, D.C. The position had its beginnings in the Theodore Roosevelt administration when First Lady Edith Roosevelt hired an executive clerk. From the intricacies of ceremony planning to routine office work, the social secretary must possess unfailing tact in
For more than two centuries, the White House has been the home of American presidents. A powerful symbol of the nation, it is a uniquely private and public space. Since John and Abigail Adams first moved into the “President’s House” in November 1800, hundreds of individuals have worked behind the scenes to help the White House fulfill its roles as a seat
The White House Military Social Aides have played an important role in many different White House events and functions. They have assisted the President with diplomatic protocol at State events, at annual meetings with the leaders of Congress and the Federal Judiciary, and at other significant social events. Military Social Aides play the role of assistant hosts at the White
While the presidency is often in the eye of the public, those who ensure operations at the White House run smoothly on a day-to-day basis often carry out their work behind the scenes. Furthermore, some of the president's most intimate relationships play out behind the walls of the Executive Mansion. In this collection, pull back the curtain on some of
