White House Historical Association

Luther J. Wilkerson

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"Luther J. Wilkerson," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/729.
Position
Houseman
Years in President's House
circa 1929 – 1933
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Presidencies
Herbert Hoover
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Biography
Luther James Wilkerson was born in Virginia in 1887.1 His brother, Harrison Frank Wilkerson (known as Frank) worked at the White House as a houseman and likely secured a position for Luther as well. Luther Wilkerson is first listed as a White House houseman on First Lady Lou Hoover’s 1929 staff Christmas list.2 In this role, he cleaned, moved furniture, and assisted with other general household maintenance on the Second Floor of the White House. According to White House Maid Lillian Rogers Parks, their nephew William Wilkerson was also on staff and worked on the Third Floor.3 Outside of work, Luther and Frank Wilkerson played competitive horseshoes and were both members of the Chandelier Club–a social group of African-American White House domestic employees who gathered outside of work.4 Luther appears to have left the White House in 1933, although he continued to work for the federal government as a cleaner and later messenger.5 The 1940 U.S. Census indicates that he lived with former and current White House staff including doorman Ebledsoe H. Johnson and houseman Henry Crawford, emphasizing the close knit relationships among many Residence Staff employees.6 Luther Wilkerson died on December 18, 1946.7
  1. Luther James Wilkerson in the U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942; The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) For the District of Columbia; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Box or Roll Number: 074, Ancestry.com.
  2. Employees on Duty at the Executive Office, 1929, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1929, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.
  3. Lillian Rogers Parks, My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House (New York: Fleet Publishing Co., 1961), 206-207; William is also listed on Hoover Christmas lists from 1930-1931: 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.
  4. “Chandelier Club,” Washington Times, February 26, 1932, pg. 5, Chronicling America, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87062236/1932-02-26/ed-1/seq-5/; “Tilghman of Brentwood First Colored Pitcher to Win Title,” Evening Star, August 11, 1929, pg. 2., Chronicling America, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1929-08-11/ed-1/seq-64/.
  5. Luther is on the 1932 White House Christmas List, but by 1934, he is listed elsewhere, indicating a 1933 departure. See White House Employees, 1932, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1932, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory Vol. LXXVI (Washington, D.C.: R. L. Polk and Co., 1934), 1679.
  6. Luther J Wilkerson in the 1940 United States Federal Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: m-t0627-00567; Page: 61A; Enumeration District: 1-426, Ancestry.com; "Negro Employees at the White House Executive Office, and White House Garage as of March 31, 1933," White House Office Personnel, 1933-1935; Records of the White House Office of Budget and Accounting, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York.
  7. Death records indicate that he was interred in Virginia, but no gravesite is given. “Wilkerson, Luther James,” Evening Star, December 21, 1946, pg. 8.
Birthplace
Virginia, USA
Virginia
Related Workers
Harrison F. Wilkerson
Housekeeping and Laundry, 1926 – circa 1933
William Wilkerson
Ebledsoe H. Johnson
Ushers, Stewards, and Doorkeepers, 1924 – 1933
Henry W. Crawford
Housekeeping and Laundry, circa 1940
Lillian Rogers Parks
Housekeeping and Laundry, 1929 – 1960
William M. Wilkerson
Housekeeping and Laundry, circa 1930 – 1933
Related Association Content
https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-chandelier-club