Mary White

Mary White was born in Virginia in 1865.¹ She reportedly began working at the White House in 1881 at the start of President James A. Garfield’s presidency.² Little verifiable information survives about White’s path to the Executive Mansion. Government records indicate that she had previously been employed in Ohio, President Garfield’s home state, before joining the White House staff as a laundress.³ In this role, White washed clothing, bedding, and other household textiles for the first family, a labor-intensive job that required heating large quantities of water and scrubbing items by hand. Evidence suggests that White remained at the White House for several years after President Garfield’s death. Writing in 1883 to James R. Garfield, the president’s son, White House valet Daniel Spriggs mentioned both Mary White and her sister, Ella White, who also worked at the White House as a laundress. In the letter, Spriggs noted that “Mary & Ella and myself are still there,” while describing life at the White House and asking after the Garfield family.⁴ White appears to have remained in her position until at least 1887.⁵ A woman named Mary White was listed in the 1900 Census as a laundress living in Washington, D.C., but the record does not identify her employer, making it difficult to determine with certainty whether she was the former White House employee.⁶ Little else is known about her life. Because of the common nature of her name and the absence of a known middle name or other identifying details, it is difficult to confirm additional information with certainty. 

Thank you to the James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor, Ohio, for providing research assistance with this biography.