Ella White

Ella White worked at the White House during the 1880s. The exact date she began her service is unknown. However, government records indicate that she was employed in Ohio before joining the White House staff as a laundress.¹ Her sister, Mary White, also worked at the White House during this period, suggesting that the two may have entered service around the same time.² As a laundress, White washed clothing, bedding, and other household textiles for the first family, a labor-intensive task that required heating large quantities of water and scrubbing items by hand. Evidence suggests that she remained employed at the White House for several years. 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. Spriggs noted that “Mary & Ella and myself are still there,” indicating that both sisters remained at the Executive Mansion after President James A. Garfield’s death.³ White appears in White House records through at least 1886.⁴ Little else is known about White’s 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.