White House Historical Association

Herman E. Thompson

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"Herman E. Thompson," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/774.
Position
Houseman
Years in President's House
1930 – circa 1951
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Presidencies
Herbert Hoover
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Biography
Herman E. Thompson was born in Maryland on December 28, 1892. He served in the United States Army during World War I.1 It appears that he began working at the White House around 1930 as a houseman, a role that entailed cleaning, moving furniture, and assisting with other general household maintenance.2 His brother and sister-in-law, Leon and Agnes Thompson, worked for Herbert and Lou Hoover for many years and likely helped him to secure this position on the White House staff.3 Outside of work, he and Leon were both members of the Chandelier Club– a social group of African-American White House domestic employees.4 While Leon and Agnes left the White House with the Hoovers in 1933, Herman Thompson continued to work there for presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.5 First Daughter Margaret Truman recalled that one of Thompson’s duties was answering the phone calls that came into the kitchen. On one occasion, her father called and requested lunch for “Mrs. Wallace and me.” Thompson responded: “Who is me?” and Truman quipped right back: “I happen to be the president of the United States.”6 The exact year of Herman’s departure from the White House is unclear, but he is listed on staff through at least 1951, earning a salary increase that year.7 Thompson died on February 21, 1975, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.8
  1. Herman Elwroth Thompson 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: 068, Ancestry.com; Herman Thompson in the Maryland Military Men, 1917-1918, Maryland in the World War 1917-1919 Military and Naval Service Records In Two Volumes and Case of Maps Volume II, Ancestry.com.
  2. Christmas 1930, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1930, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; 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. “Leon Thompson, Assistant to Hoover, U.S. Worker,” Evening Star, December 3, 1962, pg. 31; “Oral History Interview with Mrs. Leon Thompson,” November 16, 1966, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.
  4. “Chandelier Club,” The Washington Tribune, March 25, 1932, pg. 4, Chronicling America, https://lccn.loc.gov/sn87062236.
  5. Herman E. Thompson in 1950 US Federal Census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: 3463; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 1-899, Ancestry.com; Herman Elwroth Thompson 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: 068, Ancestry.com.
  6. Margaret Truman, The President's House: 1800 to the Present: The Secrets and History of the World's Most Famous Home (New York, Ballantine Books, 2003), pg. 128.
  7. “Memorandum to President Harry S. Truman re Salary Increases for White House Employees,” November 1, 1951, White House Files: President's Secretary's Files, Harry S. Truman Library, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/354584155; Herman E. Thompson in 1950 US Federal Census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: 3463; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 1-899, Ancestry.com
  8. “Thompson, Herman E.,” Army Cemeteries Explorer, https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/index.html#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CghUaG9tcHNvbhIGSGVybWFu/.
Birthplace
Maryland, USA
Arlington National Cemetery
Related Workers
Leon Thompson
Kitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, Transportation, Ushers, Stewards, and Doorkeepers, 1929 – 1933
Agnes Thompson
Valets, Lady's Maids, and First Family Attendants, 1929 – 1933
Related Association Content
https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-chandelier-club