White House Historical Association

William I. Harley

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"William I. Harley," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/970.
Positions
Floorman
Houseman
Years in President's House
circa 1944 – 1946
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Presidencies
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Biography
William Irving Harley, better known as Irving, was born in Forestville, Maryland on August 30, 1906. Harley worked as a cleaner for the Pullman Company, maintaining their fleet of railcars at Washington D.C.’s Union Station. (1) By 1944, Harley worked at the Franklin D. Roosevelt White House as a floorman and houseman – jobs which entailed cleaning the Residence, mopping the floors, moving furniture, and other general maintenance duties. (2) He remained on staff through at least part of Harry S. Truman’s presidency, appearing on a 1946 Christmas list alongside other housemen including an individual named Raymond Harley (likely a relation). (3) By 1950, the census listed his occupation as taxi driver in D.C., suggesting he was no longer employed at the White House. (4) At this time, further information about his life is limited.
(1) William Irving Harley U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards For District of Columbia, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 98, Ancestry.com; Boyd’s Directory of the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.: R. L. Polk and Co., 1935), 905.
(2) "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.
(3) 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. Lillian Rogers Parks, My Thirty Years at the White House (Fleet Publishing Co., 1961), 287.
(4) William I Harley 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: 477; Page: 77; Enumeration District: 1-742, Ancestry.com.
Birthplace
Forestville, Maryland, USA
Related Workers
Lillian Rogers Parks
Housekeeping and Laundry, 1929 – 1960
Roland A. Harley
Housekeeping and Laundry, Ushers, Stewards, and Doorkeepers, circa 1946 – 1981