Anna Brooks
Cite this Page
"Anna Brooks," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/645.
- Position
- Unclear from Context Unclear from Context
- Years in President's House
- circa 1911
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Female
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Presidency
- William Howard Taft
- Biography
- Information about Anna Brooks’ life outside of her White House employment remains unclear at this time.1 Brooks worked at the White House during William Howard Taft’s presidency. The exact years of her employment remains unclear. However, an article discussing Black workers in Taft’s White House notes that “Annie” was hired by Taft during his presidency, and she did not work in the White House under President Theodore Roosevelt.2 In 1911, she appeared on an organizational staff chart for Taft’s White House, working under Housekeeper Elizabeth A. Jaffray, earning $20.00 per week. Her exact role remains unclear.3
- There are many individuals named Anna Brooks listed in Washington directories. It is unclear which individual worked at the White House.
- Cyrus Field Adams, The Republican Party and The Afro-American A Book of Facts and Figures, (Republican National Committee, 1912), 15, https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Republican_Party_and_the_Afro_Americ/3McoAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=j+w+mays+white+house&pg=PA15&printsec=frontcover.
- 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.
- Birthplace
- Unclear from Context
- Unclear from Context