Collection The Working White House
For more than two centuries, the White House has been the home of American presidents. A powerful symbol of the...
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Wilson Jerman worked full-time in the White House from 1957 to 1993, and part-time beginning in 2003.
National Archives and Records AdministrationWhite House staff at Tee Ball game, 2005. The White House Tee Ball game on the South Lawn first took place in 2001 and has been held annually ever since. For this event, White House workers replicate a major-league ballpark—complete with pitcher's mound, dug-out, and bleachers. Following the game, they serve a ballpark menu of hot dogs and hamburgers.
Little League Baseball and Softball, Williamsport, Pa.First Lady Laura Bush and staff at press preview, 2007. First Lady Laura Bush, standing with Admiral Stephen Rochon, director of the Executive Residence and chief usher (with red tie), and Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford (holding green paper), offers the press a preview of the 2007 state dinner in honor of Queen Elizabeth II. More than 300 white roses were used to create the decorative centerpieces.
White House photoCristeta Comerford is the first woman to hold the position of White House executive chef. She was born in the Philippines, came to the United States in 1985, started working at the White House in 1995, and was named to her present post in 2005.
Perhaps the most significant change for the White House and its workers during the past several decades has been that heightened security concerns have made the House an increasingly more enclosed environment, which the president leaves less frequently for offsite events.
The result, according to former chief usher Gary Walters, is that “we transferred from a house where we only occasionally did parties to a major catering facility. Now we are doing three or four events a day sometimes.”
In addition to visitors on official business, the White House also hosts approximately 7,000 tourists each week. From Tuesday through Saturday, the White House staff must prepare the public rooms starting at 6 a.m. As Walters explains, we “have to roll up the carpets, put down the mats on the floor, put out the ropes and stanchions, and get ready for tours each day.”
One of the maintenance headaches for White House workers is the wear and tear on the wood floors. “When people stopped wearing dress shoes and went to soft-soled shoes we all cheered because we thought this would be great for the floors,” Walters recalled. “We couldn’t have been more wrong. What happens with soft-soled shoes is that pebbles get embedded in them, so now you’ve got 1,500 people walking through with sandpaper on their feet. It was exactly the opposite of what we expected.”
For more than two centuries, the White House has been the home of American presidents. A powerful symbol of the...
For more than one hundred years, White House Social Secretaries have displayed a profound knowledge of protocol and society in...
Betty C. Monkman served more than thirty years in the Office of the Curator, The White House, retiring as Chief...
The appearance of military uniforms on White House staff has seemed too threatening to please the public so except during...
Family connections among the White House residence staff run strong, and it is not unusual for workers in the Executive...
When a new president moves in, he and his family bring along their own tastes, preferences, and customs. The new...
"Every day is wash-day at the White House,” housekeeper Elizabeth Jaffray recalled. The three maids assigned to the laundry when Ja...
In the day-to-day life of the White House, interactions between the first family and the residence staff have varied widely....
White House workers have frequently come to their jobs with experience in hotels and resorts, in large town or country...
The memories of White House workers include not only times of grief, war, and political tension, but also charming moments...
White House workers’ memoirs abound with recollections of significant international and national events and episodes. As they go about their da...
On Saturday, October 24, 1903, the sensationalist New York World reported that President Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary, William Loeb Jr., outfitted the me...