Beatrice A. Peyton
Cite this Page
"Beatrice A. Peyton," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/995.
- Position
- Maid
- Years in President's House
- circa 1944 – 1950
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Female
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Biography
- Beatrice A. Peyton was born in Washington, D.C. around 1890. (1) She worked as a charwoman, or maid, for the U.S. government for decades. In the 1930s, she worked for the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks, and by 1944, she was a maid at the White House, assigned to the night cleaning force in the East Wing. (2) Peyton continued to work on the cleaning staff at the White House through at least 1950, appearing as a White House charwoman on that year’s census. (3) Further information about her life is limited at this time.
- (1) Beatrice Peyton, 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: 5908; Page: 72; Enumeration District: 1-302, Ancestry.com.
(2) Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory (Washington, D.C.: R. L. Polk and Co., 1934), pg. 1248; Beatrice Peyton in the 1920 United States Federal Census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: T625_206; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 48, Ancestry.com; "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) Beatrice Peyton, 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: 5908; Page: 72; Enumeration District: 1-302, Ancestry.com. - Birthplace
- Washington, D.C., USA