Edward M. White
Cite this Page
"Edward M. White," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/527.
- Position
- Doorkeeper
- Years in President's House
- 1889 – 1890
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Unclear from Context
- Presidency
- Benjamin Harrison
- Biography
- In July 1889, the Baltimore Sun reported: “Edward M. White, of Indiana, has been appointed a doorkeeper at the White House.”1 President Benjamin Harrison was also from Indiana and hired several individuals from his home state. In this role, White would have managed access to the White House and the Executive Offices, maintained order, and ushered visitors into the Executive Mansion.2 He remained in the role for only a year; in July 1890, the Baltimore Sun reported “Mr. White, one of the White House doorkeepers [is] said to have been disappointed with life in Washington and [is] said to have decided to return to [his] home in the West.”3 By the fall, his replacement had been announced.4 Further information about White’s life is limited at this time. In 1892, an Edward M. White appeared in the D.C. directory as a clerk, but it is difficult to confirm if it was the same individual.5
- “Presidential Appointments,” Baltimore Sun (Maryland), July 20, 1889, pg. 1; Official Register of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1889), pg. 21.
- Matthew Costello, “The White House Chief Usher,” White House Historical Association, https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-white-house-chief-usher.
- “Telegraphic Summary,” The Baltimore Sun, July 30, 1890, pg. 1.
- “A New White House Usher,” The Philadelphia Inquirer (Pennsylvania), October 4, 1890, pg. 5.
- Boyd’s Directory of the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C., 1890), 938.
- Birthplace
- Indiana, USA