White House Historical Association

Nannie Stokes

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"Nannie Stokes," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/752.
Position
Laundress
Years in President's House
1928 – circa 1933
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Female
Race/Ethnicity
Unclear from Context
Presidencies
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Biography
Nannie Stokes was born in Virginia around 1890. Prior to being hired at the White House, she worked as a kitchen maid for a private family in Washington, D.C. She began working at the White House intermittently in 1928.1 In 1931 and 1932, she is listed among the Hoovers’ White House staff as a laundress. In this role, she likely assisted with the cleaning of linens such as bedsheets, napkins, towels, and other household goods in the White House.2 She continued to be listed there through the end of March 1933, though she may have stayed beyond that year.3 Further information about her life is scarce.
  1.  Nannie Stokes in the 1930 United States Federal Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0036; FHL microfilm: 2340028, 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.
  2. “White House Employees,” 1932, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1932, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; “Xmas List 1931,” Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1931, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.
  3. Boyd’s Directory of the District of Columbia Vol. LXXV (Washington, D.C.: R. L. Polk and Co., 1933), pg. 1498; "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.
Birthplace
Virginia, USA
Unclear from Context