Eserline Dewberry
Cite this Page
"Eserline Dewberry," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/1096.
- Positions
- Chef
- Cook
- Years in President's House
- circa 1961 – 1989
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Female
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Biography
- Eserline Dewberry was born on October 9, 1908. (1) Little is known about her early life or how she came to work at the White House. She began her service as an assistant cook during John F. Kennedy’s presidency. The kitchen team supported everything from informal family meals to formal State Dinners, requiring assistant cooks to wear many hats. (2) During her time at the White House, Dewberry lived in Washington, D.C. (3) Although it is unclear when she retired, her last known role was as an assistant chef for President Ronald Reagan. Dewberry passed away in April 1989. (4)
Thank you to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library for providing research assistance with this biography. - (1) White House Usher’s Office, Monthly Report, November 1975, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/sites/default/files/pdf_documents/library/document/0018/81556614.pdf; "Eserline Dewberry in the U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014," Ancestry.com, accessed March 24, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3693/records/15386443?tid=&pid=&queryId=510fc982-0623-4d63-b328-fe235f3b3172&_phsrc=pzr153&_phstart=successSource.
(2) Miller, Adrian. The President's Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families, from the Washingtons to the Obamas. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2017.
(3) White House Usher’s Office, Monthly Report, November 1975, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/sites/default/files/pdf_documents/library/document/0018/81556614.pdf.
(4) "Eserline Dewberry in the U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014," Ancestry.com, accessed March 24, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3693/records/15386443?tid=&pid=&queryId=510fc982-0623-4d63-b328-fe235f3b3172&_phsrc=pzr153&_phstart=successSource. - Birthplace
- Unclear from Context