Earl O. Trainor
Cite this Page
"Earl O. Trainor," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/1009.
- Position
- Plumber
- Years in President's House
- circa 1944 – 1962
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Biography
- Earl Osborne Trainor, better known as Bert, was born in Laurel, Maryland on November 27, 1892. (1) During World War I, Trainor served in the U.S. Army. (2) After the war, he worked as an electrician and plumber. In the 1930s, he was an engineer at the Children’s Tuberculosis Sanitarium in Glenn Dale, Maryland. (3) By 1940, Trainor worked for the Department of the Interior, and two years later, he was employed by the Federal Works Agency, which supervised several New Deal public works agencies including the Public Buildings Administration and Work Projects Administration. (4) Throughout that time, he may have been assigned to the White House – by 1944, he was included on staff lists there as a plumber. (5) By 1951, he had become foreman plumber, managing the plumbing shop and overseeing a team of tradespeople. (6) He continued to work at the White House through at least 1962, maintaining the plumbing and water systems onsite, including fountains, sinks, toilets, and more. (7) Trainor died on April 3, 1976, and was buried at Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Brentwood, Maryland. (8)
- (1) Earl Osborne Trainor, U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, National Archives at St. Louis; St Louis, MO, USA; World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) For the State of Maryland; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Series Number: M1939, Ancestry.com.
(2) Earl Osborne Trainor, U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2020, Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. https://www.va.gov/, Ancestry.com.
(3) “Staff Will Go To Glenn Dale on Saturday,” The Washington Herald (Washington, D.C.), September 9, 1934, pg. 53; Earl O Traynor, 1920 United States Federal Census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Elk Ridge, Howard, Maryland; Roll: T625_653; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 55, Ancestry.com; Earl Trainor, 1930 United States Federal Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Baltimore, Maryland; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0504; FHL microfilm: 2340594, Ancestry.com.
(4) “Federal Works Agency,” Living New Deal, https://livingnewdeal.org/glossary/federal-works-agency-fwa-1939/; Earl O Traenor, 1940 United States Federal Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Laurel, Prince George's, Maryland; Roll: m-t0627-01557; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 17-32, Ancestry.com; Earl Osborne Trainor, U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, National Archives at St. Louis; St Louis, MO, USA; World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) For the State of Maryland; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Series Number: M1939, Ancestry.com.
(5) "Roster of White House Employees, Revised, April 1, 1944," Folder: Investigative Case Files, 1934-1945, Records of the United States Secret Service, 1933-1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York.
(6) “Memorandum to President Harry S. Truman re Salary Increases for White House Employees,” November 1, 1951, White House Files: President's Secretary's Files, Harry S. Truman Library, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/354584155.
(7) Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Personal Papers. Textual Materials. Letitia Baldrige Files. Christmas: 1961 (2 of 2 folders). JBKOPP-SF037-009. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum; Polk’s Laurel City Directory (R. L. Polk and Co., 1962), 141.
(8) “Trainor,” The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD), April 6, 1976, pg. 34. - Birthplace
- Laurel, Maryland, USA