Howard B. Arrington
- Position
- Plumber
- Years in President's House
- 1946 – 1979
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Biography
Howard Arrington, better known as “Reds,” was born in Roanoke, Virginia on June 27, 1927.1 Arrington served in the Navy during World War II before getting a job at the White House in 1946. His uncle, Melvon Carter, worked in the carpenter shop– initially, Howard helped in the flower room before learning to be a plumber on the job.2
For decades, Arrington helped to meet the plumbing needs and demands of presidents and first ladies, from adjusting the water pressure in Lyndon B. Johnson’s shower to donning waders and climbing into the South Lawn fountain to retrieve Dwight Eisenhower’s golf balls.3 In addition to his uncle, Howard Arrington also worked with his brother, Bonner, who worked as a carpenter.4 Arrington retired in 1979; he died on March 4, 2007 and is buried at Lakemont Memorial Gardens in Maryland.5
- Howard Bernard Arrington in 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: 7, Ancestry.com.
- Frederick N. Rasmussen, Howard Bernard ‘Reds’ Arrington, 79; plumber kept White House flush,” Los Angeles Times, March 31, 2007, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-mar-31-me-arrington31-story.html.
- Ibid.
- “Goodbye to the White House After 33 Years,” Bonner County Daily Bee (Sandpoint, Idaho), October 27, 1983, pg. 2.
- “Howard Bernard ‘Reds’ Arrington,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19420990/howard_bernard-arrington.
- Birthplace
- Roanoke, Virginia, USA
- Lakemont Memorial Gardens
- Related Workers
- Melvon O. CarterTrades, Kitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, 1929 – 1972
- Bonner C. ArringtonTrades, 1950 – 1983
- Alphadine Simmons Arrington