White House Historical Association

Ethel Clarke

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"Ethel Clarke," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/643.
Position
Lady's Maid
Years in President's House
circa 1912
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Female
Race/Ethnicity
Unclear from Context
Presidency
William Howard Taft
Biography
Details of Ethel Clarke’s life outside of her employment at the White House remains unclear at this time.1 Ethel Clarke worked as a maid at the White House in 1912.2 In April 1912, a Washington Post article reported that Ethel Clarke, a “maid in waiting to First Lady Helen Taft,” lost a money order onboard the Titanic. She contacted the Post Office and a duplicate money order was mailed to her “without delay.”3 That year, Ethel Clarke was also reported as a maid working in the White House in the Washington, D.C. City Directory.4 Outside of these 1912 documents, no further information is currently available about Clarke’s employment at the White House.
  1. There are several individuals named Ethel Clarke or Ethel Clark in Washington, D.C. during her lifespan. Without further information, it is difficult to determine the correct individual.
  2. The exact dates of Clarke’s employment remain unclear. However, she does not appear on an organizational chart for the Taft White House in 1911. William H. Taft, William H. Taft Papers: Series 6: Executive Office Correspondence (Presidential Series No. 2), 1909-1913; 500K-502A, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss42234.mss42234-396_0020_1132/?sp=1053&r=0.502,0.345,0.377,0.225,0.
  3. “Titanic Money Order Paid,” The Washington Post, April 28, 1912, https://www.newspapers.com/image/28901246/?match=1&terms="Ethel Clarke".
  4. “Ethel M Clark in the U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995,” Ancestry, Accessed May 11, 2026, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469/records/1474183688?tid=&pid=&queryid=ca8d02e84e74f022b0578e5e3dec3e97&_phsrc=KGX281&_phstart=successSource.
Birthplace
Unclear from Context
Unclear from Context