White House Historical Association

Ebledsoe H. Johnson

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"Ebledsoe H. Johnson," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/744.
Position
Doorkeeper
Years in President's House
1924 – 1933
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Presidencies
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Biography
Ebledsoe Harry Johnson was born in Louisa County, Virginia in 1905.1 In 1924, he joined the Coolidges’ White House staff as a doorkeeper, and remained in the role until 1933.2 Beginning in 1934, he was transferred to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in the Treasury Department, where he seems to have worked until being drafted for military service in World War II.3 Johnson served in the United States Army Quartermaster Corps and was discharged due to injury in 1945.4 Details about his life beyond this time are scarce, but he died on January 9, 1966, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.5
  1.  Ebledsoe Harry Johnson in the U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards For District of Columbia, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 119, Ancestry.com; Etledsae Johnson 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.
  2. Employees on Duty at the Executive Office, 1929, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1929, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory Vol. LXXV (Washington, D.C.: R. L. Polk and Co., 1933), 855.
  3. Ebledsoe Harry Johnson in the U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards For District of Columbia, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 119, Ancestry.com; Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory Vol. LXXVI (Washington, D.C.: R. L. Polk and Co., 1934), 862; Etledsae Johnson 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.
  4. Ebledsoe H Johnson in the U.S., World War II Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954, National Archives and Records Administration; Hospital Admission Card Files, ca. 1970 - ca. 1970; NAI: 570973; Record Group Number: Records of the Office of the Surgeon General (Army), 1775-1994; Record Group Title: 112, Ancestry. com.
  5. “Johnson, Ebledsoe H.,” Army Cemeteries Explorer, https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/index.html#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CgdKb2huc29uEghFYmxlZHNvZQ--/.
Birthplace
Louisa County, Virginia, USA
Arlington National Cemetery
Related Workers
Luther J. Wilkerson
Housekeeping and Laundry, circa 1929 – 1933
Henry W. Crawford
Housekeeping and Laundry, circa 1940