James A. Dabige
Cite this Page
"James A. Dabige," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/876.
- Position
- Gardener
- Years in President's House
- circa 1929
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Presidency
- Herbert Hoover
- Biography
- James Arthur Dabige was born on July 17, 1894, in Prince George’s County, Maryland. (1) During World War I, Dabige served as a corporal in the 372nd Infantry– a segregated Black regiment. (2) Later, he worked as a gardener/laborer for the Office of Public Buildings and Parks, and as early as 1929, he was assigned to the White House under the supervision of Head Gardener Charles Henlock. (3) Dabige may have worked on the White House Grounds or at the White House greenhouses near the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on the National Mall. (3) It is unclear how long he was assigned there, but he continued to work for the Interior Department as a gardener in the years that followed. (4) James A. Dabige died on January 15, 1955, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. (5)
- (1) “Dabige, James A.,” Army Cemeteries Explorer, https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/index.html#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CgZkYWJpZ2USBUphbWVz/; James Arthur Dabige 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: 016, Ancestry.com.
(2) Ibid; James Arthur Dabige in the U.S., National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962, Ancestry.com. U.S., National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
(3) 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., 1931), pg. 483; Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory (R. L. Polk and Co., 1934), pg. 452.
(4) James Arthur Dabige 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: 016, Ancestry.com; James H Dabige 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: 2138; Page: 8; Enumeration District: 1-173, Ancestry.com.
(5) “Dabige, James A.,” Army Cemeteries Explorer, https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/index.html#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CgZkYWJpZ2USBUphbWVz/. - Birthplace
- Prince George's County, Maryland, USA