Wilma H. Holness
Cite this Page
"Wilma H. Holness," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/1018.
- Position
- Maid
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Female
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Biography
- Wilma Hughes Holness was born in Bracey, Virginia, on September 10, 1915. (1) Little is known about her early life, but she began working as a maid at the White House in 1942 during the Franklin D. Roosevelt presidency. (2) She remained in that role until she retired during the presidency of Gerald R. Ford in 1974, having served a total of seven presidents and first families. (3) Holness described her responsibilities as a maid in the following manner: “I usually take care of all the guests and the first family, their personal needs, what I could do for them to aid them along.” (4) First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy's 1961 staff Christmas list described Holness as one of five “Second & Third Floor Maids,” indicating she helped care for the bedrooms on the upper floors and the guests and first family members who stayed there. (5) Occasionally, she would accompany the first family to their various other homes and retreats around the country, such as the Roosevelt's home at Hyde Park, New York, or the Kennedy’s Glen Ora estate in Virginia. (6) Holness passed away on April 11, 1991. (7)
- (1) “Wilma H. Holness” in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60901/records/15874194
(2) White House Office of the Curator, e-mail message to author, March 16, 2026; Wilma Holness Oral History Interview - JFK#1, -5/1967, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, https://static.jfklibrary.org/w5y6lkirb533e3282qq3tjx175l14n2a.pdf?odc=20231115181412-0500, Mrs. John A. Burns, “Mrs. Burns’ White House Stay: ‘Never Forget It’,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser (Honolulu, HI), October 9, 1964, pg 1, https://www.newspapers.com/image/261017398/?match=1&terms=%22Wilma%20Holness%22%20AND%20%22White%20House%22, and Heritage Auctions, Lot #25491, https://historical.ha.com/itm/political/3d-and-other-display-1896-present-/harry-truman-signature-design-linen-handkerchief-white-house-maid-wilma-holness-served-many-presidents-during-her-time-in-wa/a/625-25491.s, Heritage Auctions, Lot #25491, https://historical.ha.com/itm/political/3d-and-other-display-1896-present-/harry-truman-signature-design-linen-handkerchief-white-house-maid-wilma-holness-served-many-presidents-during-her-time-in-wa/a/625-25491.s, and Lillian Rogers Parks, My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House (Fleet Publishing, 1961), 97.
(3) White House Office of the Curator, e-mail message to author, March 16, 2026; Heritage Auctions, Lot #25491, https://historical.ha.com/itm/political/3d-and-other-display-1896-present-/harry-truman-signature-design-linen-handkerchief-white-house-maid-wilma-holness-served-many-presidents-during-her-time-in-wa/a/625-25491.s, and “Presidential Log, March 1975,” Box 1, Folder 1, President’s Paperworks Logs, 1974-1977 at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Grand Rapids, MI, https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/sites/default/files/pdf_documents/library/document/0174/154939216.pdf. The Houston Chronicle on April 8, 1990, claimed Holness served seven presidents. See Maxine Mesinger, “‘He Done his Damndest’: D.C. Reunion Honors 25th Anniversary of LBJ Presidency,” Houston Chronicle, (Houston, TX), April 8, 1990, pg. 25, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1211728472/?match=1&terms=%22Wilma%20Holness%22%20AND%20%22White%20House%22\
(4) Wilma Holness Oral History Interview - JFK#1, -5/1967, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, https://static.jfklibrary.org/w5y6lkirb533e3282qq3tjx175l14n2a.pdf?odc=20231115181412-0500.
(5) Christmas: 1961 (2 of 2 Folders), Jacquelin Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Personal Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/jbkopp-sf037-009#?image_identifier=JBKOPP-SF037-009-p0050.
(6) Wilma Holness Oral History Interview - JFK#1, -5/1967, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, https://static.jfklibrary.org/w5y6lkirb533e3282qq3tjx175l14n2a.pdf?odc=20231115181412-0500.
(7) “Wilma H. Holness” in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60901/records/15874194 - Birthplace
- Bracey, Virginia, USA