George W. Hopkins
Cite this Page
"George W. Hopkins," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/974.
- Position
- Electrician
- Years in President's House
- circa 1943 – 1961
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- White
- Biography
- George W. Hopkins was born around 1894 in Kansas. (1) He worked as an electrician in several states, including Colorado and New Mexico, before settling in Washington, D.C. around 1940 and working for the Department of the Interior. (2) By 1943, he worked as an electrician on staff at the White House, a role which he would hold for decades; it is possible that he was assigned there from the Department of the Interior, but information is limited. (3) His duties included installing and maintaining light fixtures and decorating the White House with bulbs during the holiday season. (4) He appears on staff lists through at least the first year of the John F. Kennedy administration in 1961, but the exact date of his departure from the White House is unclear, as are details about the final years of his life. (5)
- (1) George W Hopkins 1940 United States Federal Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: m-t0627-00566; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 1-384, Ancestry.com.
(2) Ibid; George W Hopkins 1930 United States Federal Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 0054; FHL microfilm: 2339980, Ancestry.com.
(3) "Christmas List for December 25, 1943 for the Men and & Wife & Children Up to 14 Years of Age," 1943, Folder: Christmas Lists; Topical File, 1933-1945, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Part 1, 1884-1964, 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; George W Hopkins 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: 3461; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 1-819, Ancestry.com.
(4) “And at the White House,” Birmingham-Post Herald (Birmingham, AL), December 23, 1953, pg. 2.
(5) Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Personal Papers. Textual Materials. Letitia Baldrige Files. Christmas: 1961 (2 of 2 folders). JBKOPP-SF037-009. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. - Birthplace
- Kansas, USA
- Related Worker
- Kenneth A. SullivanTrades, circa 1953