White House Historical Association

Preston Scarville

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"Preston Scarville," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/805.
Position
Houseman
Years in President's House
1930 – circa 1932
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Presidency
Herbert Hoover
Biography
Preston Scarville was born in Florida in 1902. (1) He worked as a butler in Washington, D.C. and in 1930, he was listed on First Lady Lou Hoover’s staff Christmas list as a houseman at the White House. (2) There is no known documentation of him working at the White House beyond that year, but newspapers list him as the corresponding secretary of the Chandelier Club in 1932. This was a club made up of African-American White House domestic workers, so he may have still been on staff by that time. (3) Scarville went on to work for the Government Printing Office. (4) He passed away on June 9, 1962, and was buried at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Maryland. (5)
(1) Preston Gordon Scarville 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: 202, Ancestry.com.
(2) Christmas 1930, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1930, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; Preston G Scarville in the 1930 United States Federal Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0022; FHL microfilm: 2340027, Ancestry.com.
(3) City directories list him as an employee at the Bureau of Public Buildings and Parks, but he may have remained on assignment at the White House. Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory Vol. LXXVIII (Washington, D.C.: R. L. Polk and Co., 1931), 1416; “Chandelier Club,” Washington Tribune, February 26, 1932, pg. 5, Chronicling America, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87062236/1932-02-26/ed-1/seq-5/.
(3) Preston Gordon Scarville 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: 202, Ancestry.com; Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory Vol. LXXV (Washington, D.C.: R. L. Polk and Co., 1933), 1377.
(5) “Scarville, Preston G.,” Evening Star, June 12, 1962, pg. B-4, Chronicling America, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1962-06-12/ed-1/seq-28/.
Birthplace
Florida, USA