Thomas Mason
Cite this Page
"Thomas Mason," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/801.
- Position
- Grounds Laborer
- Years in President's House
- circa 1929 – 1932
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Presidency
- Herbert Hoover
- Biography
- Thomas Mason was born in Washington, D.C. around 1859. (1) Mason worked as a laborer for the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks; according to First Lady Lou Hoover’s annual Christmas lists he was assigned to the White House from at least 1929-1932. (2) He may have worked there beyond those years, but information is scarce. His title suggests that he performed physical labor on the White House Grounds. Mason died on September 20, 1936, and was buried at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C. (3)
- (1) Thomas Mason in the 1930 United States Federal Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0097; FHL microfilm: 2340029, 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; 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; Christmas 1930, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1930, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.
(3) “Mason, Thomas,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), September 22, 1936, pg. 12. Prospect Hill is a German-American cemetery in Washington, D.C., suggesting that Mason (or his wife, Margaret) had German heritage. - Birthplace
- Washington, D.C., USA