White House Historical Association

Julia Mitchell Sharp

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"Julia Mitchell Sharp," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/988.
Position
Maid
Years in President's House
circa 1943 – 1952
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Female
Presidencies
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Biography
Julia Mitchell Sharp was born in Washington, D.C. around 1905, and worked as a maid in the city. (1) As early as 1943, she worked at the White House; fellow maid Lillian Rogers Parks recalled in her memoir that Julia assisted with laundering silk sheets for Madame Chiang Kai-shek, first lady of the Republic of China, that year. (2) Parks, Sharp, and the other maids wore black uniforms and oversaw the general cleanliness of the Residence, from laundry and dusting to packing bags and sometimes caring for pets– in fact, Sharp remained on staff at the White House during the Truman administration, and after the passing of Bess Truman’s mother Mrs. Wallace in 1952, her pet canaries were given to Julia and another maid, Bluette Pannell. (3) It is possible that Sharp worked at the White House beyond 1952, but further information about her life and career is limited. (4)
(1) Julia Mitchell, 1940 United States Federal Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: m-t0627-00572; Page: 19A; Enumeration District: 1-561, Ancestry.com.
(2) Lillian Rogers Parks, My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House (Fleet Publishing Co., 1961), pg. 97.
(3) Parks, My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House, 89, 308.
(4) Ibid; "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; 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; “Memorandum to President Harry S. Truman re Salary Increases for White House Employees,” November 1, 1951, White House Files: President's Secretary's Files, Harry S. Truman Library, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/354584155.
Birthplace
Washington, D.C., USA
Related Workers
Lillian Rogers Parks
Housekeeping and Laundry, 1929 – 1960
Bluette Pannell
Housekeeping and Laundry, Valets, Lady's Maids, and First Family Attendants, circa 1941 – 1953