Bennie A. Sale
Cite this Page
"Bennie A. Sale," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/858.
- Position
- Gardener
- Years in President's House
- circa 1929
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Presidency
- Herbert Hoover
- Biography
- Bennie Albert Sale was born on September 26, 1904, in Hanover County, Virginia. (1) He worked as a laborer for the Office of Public Buildings and Parks, and as early as 1929, he was assigned to the White House. (2) According to First Lady Lou Hoover’s annual staff list, Sale worked under the supervision of Head Gardener Charles Henlock; he may have worked on the gardens and grounds or in the White House greenhouses near the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on the National Mall. Sale continued to work for the Department of the Interior in the years that followed, but it is unclear if he remained on assignment at the White House beyond 1929. (3) By 1942, he was employed by the Federal Works Agency. (4) Bennie A. Sale died on December 11, 1953, and was buried at Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Brentwood, Maryland. (5)
- (1) Bennie Albert Sale 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 Maryland, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 449, 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., 1930), pg. 1338.
(3) Bennie Sale in the 1940 United States Federal Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Berwyn-Daniels Park-College Park, Prince George's, Maryland; Roll: m-t0627-01558; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 17-75, Ancestry.com.
(4) Bennie Albert Sale 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 Maryland, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 449, Ancestry.com.
(5) “Bennie A. Sale,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/86517219/bennie-a-sale; “Sale, Bennie A.,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), December 13, 1953, pg. 34. - Birthplace
- Hanover County, Virginia, USA