John H. Pye
Cite this Page
"John H. Pye," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/910.
- Positions
- Valet
- Messenger
- Cook
- Chauffeur
- Butler
- Years in President's House
- 1933 – 1952
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Biography
- John Henry Pye was born in Newburg, Maryland on May 2, 1888. (1) He moved to Washington, D.C. in 1900 and worked for the Elks Club before embarking on a decades long career in public service. In the 1910s and 1920s, he worked as a laborer for the Post Office Department and as a chauffeur for the Navy Department; during that time, he drove Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt. (2) When Roosevelt became president in 1933, he hired Pye to work at the White House. Pye seems to have held a variety of roles, and is sometimes called a messenger, butler, valet, cook, and chauffeur in newspaper articles and White House documents. (3) In April 1943, the U.S. government launched a second war bond drive to raise funds for the U.S. military during World War II, and John Pye was the first person to buy a bond at a White House ceremony held to kick off the campaign. (4) After President Roosevelt’s death in 1945, Pye continued to work at the White House for President Harry S. Truman. One of his duties was the operation of the staff lunch room, where White House secretaries ate their meals while on the clock. According to White House Maitre d’ Alonzo Fields, “Sometimes Pye would have some of the Cabinet officers as guests, and even the President himself whenever he could manage to get him.” (5) On June 30, 1952, John Pye retired from White House service, though he occasionally worked at White House events in his retirement. (6) He later relocated to Gainesville, Virginia, and was buried there at Mount Pleasant Baptist Cemetery after his passing on February 26, 1982. (7)
- (1) John Henry Pye 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: 056, Ancestry.com; John Henry Pye in the U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm, Ancestry.com.
(2) “A Finding Aid to the John Pye papers, circa 1911-1979,” Anacostia Community Museum Archives,https://sova.si.edu/record/acma.06-024; John H Pye in the 1920 United States Federal Census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: T625_211; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 194, Ancestry.com.
(3) Ibid; Jesse J. Holland, “Blacks and the White House: Slavery, Service,” The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Virginia), December 8, 2008, pg. 16.
(4) “White House Jumps Gun on Loan Drive,” The Lexington Herald (Lexington, Kentucky), April 8, 1943, pg. 12.
(5) “Memorandum from Harry H. Vaughan” April 30, 1948, Harry S. Truman Papers: White House Central Files: Permanent File, Harry S. Truman Library; “Memorandum to Captain Dennison,” May 17, 1948, Harry S. Truman Papers: White House Central Files: Permanent File, Harry S. Truman Library; Alonzo Fields, My 21 Years in the White House (New York: Coward-McCann Inc., 1960), 132-133.
(6) “Daily Appointments of Harry S. Truman,” Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/calendar/search?page=230; “A Finding Aid to the John Pye papers, circa 1911-1979,” Anacostia Community Museum Archives,https://sova.si.edu/record/acma.06-024.
(7) “John Henry Pye,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23773609/john-henry-pye; John Henry Pye in the Virginia, U.S., Death Records, 1912-2014, Virginia Department of Health; Richmond, VA, USA; Virginia, Deaths, 1912-2014 , Ancestry.com. - Birthplace
- Newburg, Maryland, USA