Zephyr Wright

Zephyr Wright (nee Black) was born in Marshall, Texas in 1915.¹ She grew up on her grandparents’ farm, and later studied home economics at Wiley College.² Lady Bird Johnson had also attended Wiley College, and when a professor named Dr. Dogan learned that Mrs. Johnson sought a housekeeper, he recommended Zephyr Wright. Wright began working for the Johnsons in 1942, and went on to do so for over twenty-five years.³ When Lyndon B. Johnson unexpectedly became president in November 1963 following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Wright became their personal White House cook. Her husband, Samuel Wright, also joined Johnson’s staff as an East Wing messenger.⁴

Wright cooked many of the president’s favorite dishes including seafood, Tex-mex, and baked goods. However, due to Lyndon Johnson’s 1955 heart attack, Wright enforced a diet, much to the president’s chagrin.⁵ As personal cook to the family, Wright presided over smaller, more intimate gatherings among family and friends, while White House Executive Chef Rene Verdon cooked for official events such as State Dinners.⁶ Wright often had to cook meals at the drop of a hat, rarely knowing how many guests would join the Johnsons for dinner or when they would arrive.

Over two decades of service, Zephyr Wright became close to the Johnsons. In many ways, Wright’s personal experiences opened their eyes to racism and inequality. Both Wright and Lady Bird Johnson recalled instances where Wright was denied equal accommodation at hotels or in medical facilities, and the shock and anger it caused them all. Zephyr Wright believed that these experiences helped to shape the first family’s stance on civil rights. President Johnson often discussed civil rights with her and she acted as a conduit between the president and the Black community. She recalled: “In talking with him I know he is for all of the Negro people, and he has done more for them than anyone else.”⁷ When President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he gifted one of the signing pens to Zephyr Wright.⁸

After the Johnsons left the White House in 1969, Wright cooked for their daughter, Lynda Bird Johnson Robb and her husband, Chuck Robb, at their home in Arlington, Virginia.⁹ Her husband, Samuel Wright, passed away just months after the end of Johnson’s presidency in May 1969.¹⁰ Zephyr Wright passed away on April 25, 1988, and was buried at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Suitland, Maryland. Lady Bird Johnson reflected: “She shared 27 years of our lives, and they were better years because she was a part of our family.”¹¹