Lex Campbell
Cite this Page
"Lex Campbell," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/853.
- Position
- Grounds Laborer
- Years in President's House
- circa 1929
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Presidency
- Herbert Hoover
- Biography
- Lex Campbell was born on February 16, 1894, in Georgetown, South Carolina. (1) By the late 1920s, Campbell worked as a laborer for the Office of Public Buildings and Parks in Washington, D.C. and as early as 1929, he was assigned to the White House under the supervision of Head Gardener Charles Henlock. It is possible that he was assigned there prior to or following 1929, but documentation is limited. (2) Campbell may have worked on the White House Grounds or at the White House greenhouses near the Bureau of Engraving and Printing near the National Mall. Campbell continued to work for the Department of the Interior in the 1940s and 1950s, but further information about his work at the White House and the final years of his life are unknown. (3)
- (1) Lex Campbell in the U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, National Archives at St. Louis; St Louis, MO, USA; 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: 011, 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; Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory (R.L. Polk and Co., 1929), pg. 357; Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory (R.L. Polk and Co., 1930), pg. 350.
(3) Lex Campbell in the 1940 Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: m-t0627-00572; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 1-564, Ancestry,com; Lex Campbell in the 1950 United States 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: 2526; Page: 19; Enumeration District: 1-1236, Ancestry.com. - Birthplace
- Georgetown, South Carolina, USA