Henry Juenemann

Henry Juenemann was born on February 22, 1873 in Prussia (today northern Germany).¹ He moved to Washington, D.C., with his parents in 1874.² His exact start year at the White House is unknown, but he was working there as gardener by the middle of Grover Cleveland’s second term as president and continued at the White House until 1901.³ While there, Juenemann worked primarily in the White House Conservatory, or greenhouse, and cared for the flowers grown for White House use.4 A newspaper article published later in Juenemann’s life stated that he “came into personal touch with some of the presidents while employed at the White House.” The article, which relied on an interview with him, further states that Juenemann “recalls with twinkling eyes the day that he heard a stranger moving about a forbidden section of the White House conservatories and saying out stentoriously that ‘no strangers are allowed in here,’ was somewhat dumbfounded to learn that the man addressed was President McKinley, who turned the occurrence into a humorous episode. Today he values highly a pair of cuff buttons given him by Mr. McKinley.”⁵ 

In 1901, Juenemann left White House service to work for the Bureau of Plant Industry within the Department of Agriculture.⁶ In 1906, he moved to Bellingham, Washington, to open an experimental garden run by the Department of Agriculture to test various plant and flower species. In particular, Juenemann was tasked with seeing if tulips could be grown in the continental U.S., rather than imported from Holland.⁷

Juenemann retired from federal work in 1923 and remained in Bellingham. He continued to garden and was known as “one of the Northwest's best known bulb experts.”⁸ He was also a member of the Freemasons.⁹ Juenemann passed away on October 24, 1933 and was buried in Greenacres Memorial Park in Bellingham.¹⁰