Paul McEwen
Cite this Page
"Paul McEwen," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/891.
- Position
- Garage Staff
- Years in President's House
- 1930 – 1960
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Biography
- Paul McEwen was born in Oxford, Mississippi on September 7, 1890. (1) He later moved to Washington, D.C. and began working in the White House Garage in 1930. There, he washed and maintained presidential and staff cars for the next three decades, working for presidents Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. (2) McEwen commuted to the White House from Baltimore, Maryland, where he served as a minister at the Pentecostal Church of God in Christ in his free time. Because of this, President Franklin D. Roosevelt nicknamed McEwen “the Preacher.” (3) Paul McEwen retired from the garage in 1960. He passed away in August 1983. (4)
- (1) Some records list his birthdate as 1890, others say 1892. 1890 is the more common year listed. Paul McEwen in the U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Registration State: Michigan; Registration County: Wayne, Ancestry.com; Paul McEwen in the U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; 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: 046, Ancestry.com; Paul McEwen 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: Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland; Roll: 1673; Page: 73; Enumeration District: 4-1042, Ancestry.com.
(2) Art Carter, “DC Notebook,” Washington Afro American (Washington, D.C.), October 29, 1960, pg. 4; “Yule Smile,” Washington Afro American (Washington, D.C.), January 3, 1959, pg. 10.
(3) Ibid.
(4) McEwen’s exact date of death and burial place are not known. Paul McEwen in the U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014, Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, Ancestry.com. - Birthplace
- Oxford, Mississippi, USA