Lavinia Gibson
Cite this Page
"Lavinia Gibson," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/686.
- Position
- Laundress
- Years in President's House
- circa 1916
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Female
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Presidency
- Woodrow Wilson
- Biography
Details about Lavinia Gibson’s early life remain unclear.
The only reference to Gibson’s time working as a laundress at the White House comes from a February 1916 newspaper article, re-printed across the country, reporting that Gibson eloped with a soldier named Johnny Mullen. The article reported that after the marriage, “Lavinia is back at her tub, happy.”1
In 1917, she appeared in the city directory for Washington, D.C. under her married name, Mullen, working as a laundress. It is unclear if she was still employed at the White House at that time.2
She died on November 13, 1925, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.3
- The White House Workers History Project relies on the U.S. Census Bureau’s updated guidelines for collecting demographic data related to race and ethnicity published in 2024. Adhering to these categories, this project identifies this person as Black or African American; however, there is documentation or other evidence suggesting that they were multiracial or mixed race. It is important to recognize that historical terms such as “mulatto” and “colored” are problematic, as these reflect the document writer’s views and the historical period more than the individual’s preferences or identity. “Back at her Tub Happy,” The Vincennes Sun-Commercial, February 17, 1916, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1055349005/?match=1&terms=white house laundress.
- “Luvenia Mullen, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” Ancestry, accessed June 8, 2026, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469/records/1031272310?tid=&pid=&queryId=4b6fecd8-7e0b-44a4-8ac0-bfd451f64601&_phsrc=OuO1472&_phstart=successSource.
- “Lavinia Mullen U.S. Veterans’ Gravesites, ca. 1775-2019,” Ancestry, accessed June 8, 2026, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8750/records/2188025?tid=&pid=&queryId=8e2cc378-bda9-48b9-91da-beb86e810aa9&_phsrc=OuO1476&_phstart=successSource.
- Birthplace
- Unclear from Context
- Arlington National Cemetery