Wilson M. Searles
Cite this Page
"Wilson M. Searles," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/911.
- Position
- Usher
- Years in President's House
- circa 1937 – 1961
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Biography
- Wilson M. Searles was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on November 16, 1895. (1) He served in World War I as first sergeant in the 318th Infantry. (2) By 1937, Searles had begun working as an assistant usher at the White House, helping manage the flow of visitors at major events including the visits of King George VI in 1939 and Madame Chiang Kai-shek in 1943. (4) On December 7, 1941, Searles had a front seat to history; he learned of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor while working and quietly informed the Marine Band Director William F. Santelmann that “Japan was making an air raid on Hawaii” in the middle of a formal luncheon. (5) Searles went on to work for Presidents Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower, though the exact dates of his White House tenure are unclear at this time. (6) In 1962, he moved to Florida; in his free time, he was a Scottish Rite Mason, a member of the 80th Division Veterans Association, and active in the Christ Episcopal Church. (7) He died on May 3, 1975, and was buried at Mansion Memorial Park in Ellenton, Florida. (8)
- (1) Wilson Searles 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: 061, Ancestry.com.
(2) Wilson M Searles in the Virginia, U.S., Department of Military Affairs Records, 1876-1947, Library of Virginia; Richmond, Virginia; Organization cards of the Virginia Dept of Military Affairs, Ancestry.com; Wilson M Searles in the U.S., Army Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists, 1910-1939, The National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland; Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985; Record Group Number: 92; Roll or Box Number: 473, Ancestry.com.
(3) “White House Judiciary Reception,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), January 13, 1937, pg. 28, Chronicling America, https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045462/1937-01-13/ed-1/?sp=28&r=-0.013,0.02,0.549,0.327,0.
(4) “Queen Carries Sunshade in Open Car,” San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio, Texas), June 9, 1939, pg. 3; “China’s Glib, Glamorous Spokesman Irked Many in America,” The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), January 19, 1950, pg. 10.
(5) “Marine Band Logbook Entry,” United States Marine Band, https://www.marineband.marines.mil/Photos/igphoto/2001335344/; see also Michael F. Reilly, Reilly of the White House (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1947), pg. 3.
(6) Wilson Searles 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: 3069; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 1-439, Ancestry.com; “Former White House Administrative Staffer Dies,” The Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, Florida), May 4, 1975, pg. 21; Report of the Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion (Government Printing Office, 1952), pg. 108.
(7) “Former White House Administrative Staffer Dies,” The Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, Florida), May 4, 1975, pg. 21.
(8) Ibid; “Marye Wilson Searles,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/103620453/. - Birthplace
- Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA