White House Historical Association

Mary Grass

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"Mary Grass," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/535.
Position
Laundress
Years in President's House
circa 1890 – 1891
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Female
Race/Ethnicity
Unclear from Context
Presidency
Benjamin Harrison
Biography
In June 1890, a newspaper article about the Harrison White House listed a “Miss Grass” among the laundry staff.1 The following year, Mary Grass appeared on the federal register as a laundress in the War Department– several of the laundresses on that departmental list are known to have worked at the White House, telling us that they were most likely assigned there at this time. This source also lists New York as Mary Grass’s birthplace.2 Grass may have worked at the White House beyond this period, but further information is scarce. Her duties would have included hauling and boiling water on the large fireplace, scrubbing pieces by hand, hanging them to dry, and then pressing and folding clean items. In 1891, the White House laundry facilities underwent a renovation and a new steam dryer was introduced, modernizing the process for drying presidential linens and likely altering some of Grass’s duties.3
  1. “The First Lady: Servants of the White House,” The Salt Lake Herald (Utah), June 1, 1890, pg. 13, Chronicling America, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85058130/1890-06-01/ed-1/.
  2. Official Register of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1891), pg. 427. In 1891, she also appeared in the city directory with the occupation “washing.” Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory (Washington, D.C., 1891), 457.
  3. “Personal and Impersonal,” Fulton Daily Sun-Gazette (Missouri), November 17, 1890, pg. 2; “White House Repairs,” The Stark County Democrat (Ohio), July 30, 1891, pg. 1.
Birthplace
New York, USA
Unclear from Context