Louise C. Cabbell
- Positions
- Laundress
- Housekeeper
- Years in President's House
- 1952 – circa 1979
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Female
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Biography
Louise C. Cabbell (née Carpenter) was born on April 19, 1915, in Virginia.1 She grew up in Locust Dale, Virginia.2
She began working at the White House in April 1952 as a housekeeper and laundress.3 By 1973, she was identified as the head laundress at the White House.4 Further details about her responsibilities come from Rex Scouten, who served as Chief Usher during Cabbell’s final years at the White House. Upon her retirement, Scouten wrote that she was “primarily responsible for ‘heavy’ laundry although she did do family bed linens [for the first family], towels and in some instances, tablecloths.”5 She retired in either late 1978 or early 1979.6
In 1983, Cabbell attended a reunion of over 100 retired White House Residence staff members organized by former Chief Usher J.B. West.7 Cabbell passed away on November 11, 2005 and was buried at Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Brentwood, Maryland.8
- “Birthdays (Residence Staff),” Betty Ford White House Papers, 1973-1977, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum, Grand Rapids, MI, https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/sites/default/files/pdf_documents/library/document/0018/81556614.pdf
- “Louise Carpenter” in the 1920 United States Federal Census, accessed via Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6061/records/55446319. The White House Workers History Project relies on the U.S. Census Bureau’s updated guidelines for collecting demographic data related to race and ethnicity published in 2024. Adhering to these categories, this project identifies this person as Black or African American; however, there is documentation or other evidence suggesting that they were multiracial or mixed race. It is important to recognize that historical terms such as “mulatto” and “colored” are problematic, as these reflect the document writer’s views and the historical period more than the individual’s preferences or identity.
- White House Office of the Curator, e-mail message to author, March 16, 2026.
- Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1973), 47, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hearings/6VHVAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1
- “Rex Scouten to Rosalynn Carter,” January 23, 1979, White House Chief Usher’s Office; Series: Rex Scouten’s Subject File, Folder: Rosalynn Carter - Instruction and Meeting Notes with Rex Scouten; Container 5, Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, Athens, GA.
- On January 23, 1979, Chief Usher Rex Scouten wrote a letter to First Lady Rosalynn Carter mentioning that Cabbell was “recently retired,” which would place her retirement as either late 1978 or early 1979. See “Rex Scouten to Rosalynn Carter,” January 23, 1979, White House Chief Usher’s Office; Series: Rex Scouten’s Subject File, Folder: Rosalynn Carter - Instruction and Meeting Notes with Rex Scouten; Container 5, Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, Athens, GA.
- Barbara Gamarekian, “Reunion Echoes Bygone Years at White House,” New York Times, June 25, 1983, pg. 5.
- “Louise Cabbell Obituary,” The Washington Post, November 17, 2005, https://obits.oregonlive.com/us/obituaries/washingtonpost/name/louise-cabbell-obituary?id=5547646
- Birthplace
- Virginia, USA
- Fort Lincoln Cemetery
- Related Workers
- James B. WestUshers, Stewards, and Doorkeepers, 1941 – 1969
- Rex W. ScoutenUshers, Stewards, and Doorkeepers, Curators, 1949 – 1997