White House Historical Association

Charles C. Brown

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"Charles C. Brown," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/690.
Position
Houseman
Years in President's House
1918 – 1931
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Presidencies
Woodrow Wilson
Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Biography
Charles C. Brown was born around 1867 in Washington, D.C.1 In 1918, he was hired as a houseman at the White House, where he worked primarily on the Ground Floor. A houseman’s duties typically included cleaning, moving furniture, and assisting with general maintenance.2 During the Herbert Hoover presidency, he worked with his sister, Nellie Brown, and may have helped to secure her role as a kitchenmaid at the White House. First Lady Lou Hoover included Charles Brown on her annual Christmas list through 1931; in 1932, he was listed as a cleaner for the Office of Public Buildings and Parks.3 On September 27, 1932, Charles C. Brown died in Washington, D.C.4
  1. Not to be confused with Charles R. Brown, a coachman at the Theodore Roosevelt White House. Charles Brown in the 1930 United States Federal Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia; Page: 13A; Enumeration District: 0214; FHL microfilm: 2340033, Ancestry.com.
  2. Ellen A. Riley to Lou Henry Hoover, January 1929, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, Servants and Aides General 1929-1933, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.
  3. Christmas 1930, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1930, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; Xmas List 1931, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1931, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory Vol. LXXIV (Washington, D.C.: R. L. Polk and Co., 1932), 302.
  4. Burial information is not included in his death notice. “Brown, Charles C.,” Evening Star, October 1, 1932, pg. 9.
Birthplace
Washington, D.C., USA
Unclear from Context
Related Workers
Charles R. Brown
Transportation, circa 1909
Nellie L. Brown Butler
Kitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, Housekeeping and Laundry, 1927 – circa 1964