White House Historical Association

Ava Long

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"Ava Long," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/708.
Position
Housekeeper
Years in President's House
1929 – 1933
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Female
Race/Ethnicity
White
Presidency
Herbert Hoover
Biography
Ava Long was born in Virginia around 1883.1 She worked in the home of the prominent Rogers family of New York prior to being hired at the White House in 1929. She reflected, “I believe I was chosen because, in the Rogers home where guests by the dozen were dropping in, I learned to make elastic arrangements…the Hoovers have been famous for such hospitality.”2 Interestingly, Long recalled: “Would you believe it, I accepted the position without knowing I was coming to the White House! I was told if I took the position offered, I would have charge of an important house in Washington, with twenty-seven servants, and that I would have a suite and the use of a car and chauffeur. I thought it was probably an embassy.”3 Even better– over the next four years, Ava Long oversaw domestic labor for President Herbert Hoover and First Lady Lou Hoover and did the weekly shopping for supplies. This was no small task– according to Long, the Hoovers dined alone only three times during their tenure at the White House, often hosting guests last minute for dinners, receptions, or other social gatherings.4 She remained in the role for the entirety of the Hoover administration, and assisted with the transition to the Roosevelts’ new housekeeper, Henrietta Nesbitt, in 1933.5 That year, Mrs. Hoover wrote a recommendation for Long to the New York Exchange for Women’s Work, stating “She was capable and efficient, honest, and very willing, and extremely patient and resourceful in managing the large staff of servants under government employ.”6 Further information about her life beyond the White House is scarce.
  1. “Ava Long in the 1930 Federal Census,” Year: 1930; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 0066; FHL microfilm: 2340028, Ancestry.com.
  2. “Housekeeper Tells of Hoover Menage,” New York Times, March 5, 1933, pg. F10; “National Affairs: Open Doors,” Time, May 13, 1929, https://time.com/archive/6662761/national-affairs-open-doors/.
  3. Ibid.
  4. “And a New Deal for the White House Kitchen,” Evening Star, June 23, 1935, pg. 51, Chronicling America, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1935-06-23/ed-1/seq-51/; “Chauffeur Drives Capital Flivver,” New Britain Herald (Connecticut), May 17, 1929, pg. 10, Chronicling America, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014519/1929-05-17/ed-1/seq-10/.
  5. “Housekeeper Tells of Hoover Menage,” New York Times, March 5, 1933, pg. F10.
  6. Lou Hoover to the New York Exchange for Women’s Work, November 29, 1933, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, Ava Long Papers, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.
Birthplace
Virginia, USA
Unclear from Context
Related Workers
Daniel Webster
Transportation, 1913 – 1933
Ellen A. Riley
Housekeeping and Laundry, 1926 – 1929
Victoria D. H. Nesbitt
Housekeeping and Laundry, 1933 – 1946