Estanislao Medina

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"Estanislao Medina," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/930.

Position: Cook
Years in President's House: circa 1940 – 1952
Legal Status: Free Person
Gender: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Asian
Presidencies: Franklin D. Roosevelt; Harry S. Truman
Biography: Estanislao Medina was born in Capiz, Philippines on May 7, 1894. (1) Medina served as a Chief Petty Office in the U.S. Navy during World War I; the U.S. Armed Forces recruited many Filipino service members after the Spanish-American War resulted in the cessation of the Philippines to the United States. He immigrated to the United States in 1919. (2) After the war, he became a naturalized citizen and continued to serve in the Navy as a cook. (3) In 1937, the New Orleans Times-Picayune noted that Medina and another Filipino chef, Alfredo Oriz, prepared meals for President Franklin D. Roosevelt aboard the presidential yacht Potomac. (4) By 1940, Medina had been transferred to work in the White House Kitchen; according to a 1944 staff registry, he was “first meat cook.” (5) Maitre d’ Alonzo Fields recalled that Medina liked to whistle while he worked, one time drawing the ire of Prime Minister Winston Churchill during a visit to the United States. (6) Housekeeper Henrietta Nesbitt called Medina “sweet-tempered, and a wonderful cook.” (7)
He continued to work in this role under President Harry S. Truman and by 1952, he was head cook, overseeing a team of five. (8) At this time, further information about Medina’s work there is limited, though his obituary does state that he cooked for President Eisenhower at the White House. He later lived in Landover, New York, and Sarasota, Florida, where he was involved in St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church and was a member of the Fleet Reserve Association, a veterans organization made up of former sailors, marines, and Coast Guard personnel. (9) Estanislao Medina died on August 26, 1977, and was buried at Restlawn Memorial Gardens in Port Charlotte, Florida. (10)
: (1) Estanislao Medina in the Virginia, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1901-1938, The National Archives at Philadelphia; Philadelphia, PA; Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1838-1991; NAI Number: 573404; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States; Record Group Number: 21, Ancestry.com; Estanislao Medina in the U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1861-1985, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, MO, USA; Applications for Headstones and Markers, 7/1/1970-9/30/1985; NAID: 6016127; Record Group Number: 15; Record Group Title: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773-2007, Ancestry.com.
(2) Ibid; Adrian Miller and Deborah Chang, Cooking to the President’s Taste (White House Historical Association, 2025).
(3) Estanislao Medina in the 1930 United States Federal Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 0126; FHL microfilm: 2340030, Ancestry.com.
(4) It is possible that Medina worked on presidential yachts prior to this time, as his obituary noted that he cooked for President Herbert Hoover. “Estanislao Medina,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune (Sarasota, Florida), August 30, 1977, pg. 4; “President’s Yacht Ties Up at Bienville Street, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), April 24, 1937, pg. 3; See also Evan Phifer, “USS Potomac: Franklin Roosevelt's Presidential Yacht,” White House Historical Association, https://www.whitehousehistory.org/uss-potomac-franklin-roosevelts-presidential-yacht.
(5) “Colored Regular Employees of the White House Christmas, 1940," Folder: Christmas Subject File, Grace Tully Papers, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York; "Roster of White House Employees, Revised, April 1, 1944," Folder: Investigative Case Files, 1934-1945, Records of the United States Secret Service, 1933-1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York.
(6) Alonzo Fields, My 21 Years in the White House (New York: Coward McCann Inc., 1960), pg. 88-89.
(7) Henrietta Nesbitt, White House Diary (New York: Doubleday, 1948), pg. 189.
(8) Bess Furman, “Keeping House at the White House,” New York Times, December 28, 1952, pg. 7, https://www.nytimes.com/1952/12/28/archives/keeping-house-at-the-white-house-mamie-eisenhowers-chores-will-be.html; White House Staff Christmas Gift List of Bess W. Truman, 1946, Christmas Lists Subject File, Bess W. Truman Papers, Harry S. Truman Library, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/139308529; “Mamie’ll Find It Takes Army,” The Times-Union (Rochester, New York), December 27, 1952, pg. 3.
(9) “Estanislao Medina,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune (Sarasota, Florida), August 30, 1977, pg. 4.
(10) “Estanislao Medina,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/112307018/estanislao-medina.
Birthplace: Capiz, Philippines

Related Workers: Alonzo Fields
Kitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, 1931 – 1953; Victoria D. H. Nesbitt
Housekeeping and Laundry, 1933 – 1946; James H. Carter
Kitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, circa 1944 – 1951