Mabel E. Haley Webster
Cite this Page
"Mabel E. Haley Webster," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/915.
- Position
- Lady's Maid
- Years in President's House
- 1933 – 1945
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Female
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Presidency
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Biography
- Mabel E. Haley was born on August 9, 1892, in Catlett, Virginia and graduated from Manassas Industrial High School. (1) During Franklin D. Roosevelt’s tenure as Assistant Secretary of the Navy (1913-1920) Mabel Haley worked for Eleanor Roosevelt at their Washington, D.C. home. (2) Later, Mrs. Roosevelt hired Haley at the White House to replace her lady’s maid Mary Foster after Foster passed away in December 1933. (3)
Haley “did everything” according to White House maid Lillian Rogers Parks– from overseeing Mrs. Roosevelt’s wardrobe and running errands to managing her luggage and traveling with the first lady. She was also a confidante for Mrs. Roosevelt, and “knew all of the family skeletons.” (4) While in the White House, Mabel Haley married, becoming Mabel Haley Webster. She also sadly lost a son. Eleanor Roosevelt attended the funeral and was the only White person in attendance– a fact that “endeared her” to the African-American staff at the White House. (5) Mabel Haley Webster remained in Mrs. Roosevelt’s service until she departed from the White House after President Roosevelt’s death in 1945. (6)
Afterward, Webster worked as a proofreading clerk at the Treasury Department and remained in touch with Mrs. Roosevelt. (7) After Mrs. Roosevelt’s passing in 1962, Webster attended her funeral service in Washington, D.C. She was also a guest of honor at the White House in 1966 when the Johnsons unveiled Eleanor Roosevelt’s official portrait. (8) Mabel Haley Webster died on April 8, 1969, and was buried at Oak Shade Baptist Church Cemetery in Catlett, Virginia. (9) - (1) Mabel Elizabeth Haley in the Virginia, U.S., Divorce Records, 1918-2014, Virginia Department of Health; Richmond, VA, USA; Virginia Divorce Records, 1918-2014, Ancestry.com; “Mabel W. Webster,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19747637/mabel-w-webster; “Mabel Webster,” The Washington Daily News (Washington, D.C.), April 10, 1969, pg. 55.
(2) “First Lady Remembers Her Wartime Servant,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas), December 17, 1933, pg. 13;
(3) “Roosevelt Plays Santa Role To His White House Staff: Policemen, Servants and Chauffeurs Receive Presents,” The Washington Post, December 25, 1933, pg. 4.
(4) Lillian Rogers Parks, The Roosevelts: A Family in Turmoil (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1981), 16-17.
(5) Parks, The Roosevelts: A Family in Turmoil, 18.
(6) Eleanor Roosevelt, "My Day, April 18, 1945," The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Digital Edition (2017), accessed 4/29/2026, https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday/displaydoc.cfm?_y=1945&_f=md000002.
(7) Mable W Webster 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: 4813; Page: 72; Enumeration District: 1-1171, Ancestry.com; Eleanor Roosevelt, "My Day, May 15, 1956," The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Digital Edition (2017), accessed 4/29/2026, https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday/displaydoc.cfm?_y=1956&_f=md003484.
(8) “Eleanor Roosevelt Archive,” Antiques Roadshow, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/videos/eleanor-roosevelt-archive/; “President’s Daily Diary,” February 4, 1966, Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library, https://lbj-discoverlbj-live.s3.amazonaws.com/2025-08/192429-pdd-19660204.pdf.
(9) “Mabel Webster,” The Washington Daily News (Washington, D.C.), April 10, 1969, pg. 55; “Mabel W. Webster,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19747637/mabel-w-webster. - Birthplace
- Catlett, Virginia, USA
- Related Association Content
- https://www.whitehousehistory.org/staff-at-the-roosevelt-household