White House Historical Association

William M. Pannell

Ask a Historian Download as PDF
Cite this Page
"William M. Pannell," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/584.
Positions
Custodian
Doorkeeper
Clerk
Years in President's House
1909 – circa 1936
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Presidencies
William Howard Taft
Woodrow Wilson
Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Biography
William M. Pannell was born in Virginia in the 1870s.1 Early in his career, Pannell worked as a butcher and coachman; his interactions with government officials in the latter job led to an opportunity in the War Department.2 There, he worked as a messenger to then-Secretary of War William Howard Taft, even traveling abroad with him to Cuba.3 Taft brought Pannell with him to the White House following his Inauguration in 1909.4 In the ensuing years, Pannell took on a variety of duties and roles, including messenger and doorkeeper.5 He eventually became custodian or superintendent of the Executive Offices, meaning that he oversaw the general cleanliness and upkeep of the West Wing and managed the janitorial staff there.6 He was documented on staff at the White House through at least 1936 on city directories, but the details of his departure are unclear. On the 1940 Census, he was listed as unemployed.7 After William Pannell’s passing on April 10, 1941, his wife, Bluette Pannell, began working at the White House as a maid to make ends meet. William Pannell was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Washington, D.C.8
  1. There are many discrepancies with Pannell’s birth year in census data and newspaper features. William M Pannell in the 1920 United States Federal Census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: T625_209; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 243, Ancestry.com; William M Pannell in the 1910 United States Federal Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Precinct 9, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: T624_154; Page: 13b; Enumeration District: 0193; FHL microfilm: 1374167, Ancestry.com.
  2. “White House Custodian is William M. Pannell,” The Afro-American (Baltimore, Maryland), September 2, 1933, pg. 17.  
  3. Ibid; “White House Changes: Probable Composition of the New Executive Staff,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), February 25, 1909, pg. 1.
  4. Ibid.
  5. “Shrewd Messenger is Awarded by Taft,” Times Herald (Washington, D.C.), March 10, 1909, pg. 14; “William Pannell, 30 Years in U.S. Service,” Times Herald (Washington, D.C.), June 10, 1925, pg. 5.
  6. “Prepare White House for New Tenants,” Times Herald (Washington, D.C.), February 4, 1929, pg. 13; “Slants on Capital People,” Times Herald (Washington, D.C.), October 31, 1929, pg. 19.
  7. Boyd’s District of Columbia City Directory (R. L. Polk and Co., 1936), 1650; William Pannell, in the 1940 United States Federal Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: St Mary’s, Maryland; Roll: m-t0627-01559; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 19-11, Ancestry.com.
  8. “Pannell, William,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), April 11, 1941, pg. 14; Lillian Rogers Parks, The Roosevelts: A Family in Turmoil (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1981), pg. 34-35.
Birthplace
Virginia, USA
Woodlawn Cemetery
Related Workers
Charles J. Pusey
Ushers, Stewards, and Doorkeepers, 1901 – circa 1931
Bluette Pannell
Housekeeping and Laundry, Valets, Lady's Maids, and First Family Attendants, circa 1941 – 1953
Walter L. Dunn
Ushers, Stewards, and Doorkeepers, circa 1903 – 1913