Susie E. Booth

Susie E. Booth was born in Shenandoah County, Virginia around 1877.¹ In 1901, she married Harry B. Kenner.² When President Woodrow Wilson married his second wife, Edith Bolling Galt, in December 1915, Housekeeper Elizabeth A. Jaffray reported, “she [Mrs. Wilson] had an old colored maid who had been loyal to her for fifteen or twenty years, and whom she would like to bring to the White House as her personal maid if I thought it could be arranged.” However, Jaffray told Mrs. Wilson that all of the other maids working upstairs at the White House were white and that it would be difficult to have her live and work on the Third Floor. Undeterred, Mrs. Wilson hired Booth and she reported to Mrs. Jaffray a couple days after the Wilsons returned from their honeymoon in early January 1916.³ 

When the Wilsons traveled to Europe in 1918 for World War I peace negotiations, Booth accompanied Mrs. Wilson. She appeared in newspaper coverage of the trip.⁴ Upon their return, according to Elizabeth A. Jaffray, Mrs. Wilson stated, “We had an unhappy time with her…Somebody got ahold of her in France and she did a lot of talking she shouldn’t have done. When we went to England I made her promise that under no circumstances would she say another word or do anything to embarrass us.” In England, Mrs. Wilson instructed staff to greet Queen Mary and only say. “Yes, your majesty.” According to Mrs. Jaffray, when the Queen asked whether Booth’s quarters were suitable, she instead responded, “You bet they is, Queen!” This quotation is from Elizabeth Jaffray’s recollection. It is unclear if this is the language used or whether Jaffray's characterization of Booth was influenced by the racial stereotypes of the era.⁵ This incident proved to be too much for the Wilsons and President Wilson wished to dismiss Booth. The Wilsons found her a position with the Treasury Department.⁶ 

The 1921 Washington, D.C. directory listed her working as a charwoman, or maid, for the Treasury.⁷ Information about Susie Booth’s later life remains unclear.