White House Historical Association

Elsie Rodenhauser

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"Elsie Rodenhauser," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/719.
Positions
Kitchen Assistant
Cook
Years in President's House
1922 – 1929
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Female
Race/Ethnicity
White
Presidencies
Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Biography
Elsie Rodenhauser was born in North Dakota in 1903; her parents were German immigrants. (1) Her path to the White House is unclear, but she began to work as an assistant/maid in the kitchen in 1922. In this role, she may have helped the White House cook with basic tasks and cleaned the kitchens. (2) During her tenure at the White House, she also traveled with the Coolidges to cook for them while on vacation in places such as Wisconsin and North Dakota. (3) It appears that she left the White House in 1929, and by 1930, she is instead listed as an operative or operator for the United States government. (4) Rodenhauser died in 1984 and was buried at Mount Oak Cemetery in Prince George’s County, Maryland. (5)
(1) “Elsie Rodenhauser,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14123002/rod; Elsie Rodenhauser in the 1930 United States Federal Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Page: 26A; Enumeration District: 0143; FHL microfilm: 2340031, 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) “President’s Office Force Sets Record for Summer Duty,” Evening Star, June 7, 1928, pg. 4, Chronicling America, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1928-06-07/ed-1/seq-4/; Untitled article in Washington Journal, August 12, 1927, pg. 1, Chronicling America, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014726/1927-08-12/ed-1/seq-1/ (translated).
(4) Rodenhauser is not listed on the 1929 Christmas staff lists created by the Hoovers. See Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1929, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Elsie Rodenhauser in the 1930 United States Federal Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Page: 26A; Enumeration District: 0143; FHL microfilm: 2340031, Ancestry.com.
(5) “Elsie Rodenhauser,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14123002/rod.
Birthplace
North Dakota, USA