Introduce my colleague sarah fling. She started at the White House Historical association in 2019 as a graduate public history fellow before joining as a historian in 2021 her research focuses on free and enslaved workers the first ladies and the white house collection serious. Sarahs previous Work Experience includes internships at Historic Sites such as George Washingtons mount vernon and the frick pittsburg. She received her bachelors degree in history from the university of pittsburgh and her masters in public history from american university. Sarah is originally from york, pennsylvania. Welcome sarah. Thank you, lena. Thanks so much for that introduction and good evening everybody. Thanks so much for being here with us tonight as we explore what i consider to be the Unsung Heroes of the white house the resident staff. So if we had to the next slide, id like to talk a little bit more about the history and the background of the residence staff. Now i think today when we think of white house staff often east and west wing workers come to mind those chief of staff advisors speech writers, press secretaries the very visible political face of the white house, but as you can see on the screen here, the white house isnt just an office. Its a home as a result. There are dozens up to 90 to 100 resident staff workers that labor behind the scenes and really critical roles and theyre often overlooked. Think of it this way when you have a state dinner at the white house, it would be impossible without a chef and their assistant chefs to create the meal without butlers to serve it to guess and without ushers to bring those guests into the white house. So today im going to explore the history and the makeup of the resident staff and highlight a few fascinating individuals that have held these roles in the past. So on the next slide, ill talk a little bit more in depth about the variety of roles that are included in the resident staff. Theyre really dozens of workers that specialize in anything you can imagine in a household things from the kitchen staff to hospitality to housekeeping and general upkeep and then of course the office of the curator that assists with the preservation of the objects in the white house collection a few of those modern roles are listed here like chefs butlers storming maids laundry, but these have really changed over time some roles that were very important in the early years of the white house in the 19th century are no longer necessary today things like stable hands and coachmen as well as messengers that have been outdated but the use of cars and texts and emails, but if we go to the next slide we can talk more about how this has evolved and changed over time. The resident staff is really as old as the white house itself ever since president john adams and first Lady Abigail Adams became the first first family to move into the white house. They brought workers with them to run their households and its important to note that in the 19th century and these very early years and president s were paying out of pocket for their workers. Typically, they would bring their own household servants with them and when we look at slave owning president s in the early 19th century, this is particularly true as they brought many enslaved workers to fill the roles of butlers maids and cooks one example that i have on the screen here is Paul Jennings who was an enslaved ballet to president James Madison in addition to working for the madisons and later the polks at the white house. He also published the very First White House staff memoir called a colored mans reminisces of James Madison and as i talk today about different members of the white house resident staff these staff memoirs are a critical piece of evidence that we on the historian team use to understand more about their lives and their relationships with each other as well as their relationships with president s first. These and first families. So thats just one thing to keep in mind as we go along. Now beyond the abolition of slavery, theres a long history of race at the white house and in the west residents staff, typically the residents staff really mirrors the way that Americans Society operates. So in the 19th and early 20th centuries, you see a lot of these domestic positions filled by African American workers and immigrant workers and up through the 1950s. The resident staff was segregated at the white house throughout several administrations and at the same time you see a lot of the managerial and clerical positions filled by white workers. So really the resident staff is a microcosm of American Society throughout history. Another important thing to understand is that although president s brought their own staff to work at the white house pretty commonly throughout the 19th century today these resident staff positions are very nonpartisan. The resident staff is extremely private and loyal and theyre proud to serve their country many of them have spoken about the fact that serving at the peoples house is an extension of serving the American People and as a result many of them end up remaining for several administrations, and its not unusual to see generations of family members working at the white house as well as husbands and wives and brothers and sisters. I included this great quote on this screen here from alonzo fields, who was the chief butler at the white house for 21 years and he wrote a memoir about his experience. He wrote you dont care whos president youre working for the public. Youre a servant to the public just like he is and this i think really thematically carries the individuals that will be talking about today. So lets head to the next slide to talk about the very first residence staff member that i like to feature. And thats Dolly Johnson who was a white house cook during the administrations of president Benjamin Harrison and president grover, cleveland. So as you saw on the screen where i listed all of the many roles and departments that resident staff play the kitchen is a really integral part of the resident staff and today the kitchen staff is quite large and managed by the white house executive chef. So the executive chef position actually was created by first Lady Jacqueline kennedy in 1961, and now they include a team of pastry chefs and assistance and pantry men, but prior to the creation of that executive chef role the kitchen staff was much smaller in particular throughout the 19th century. You typically would see only one or two cooks overseeing the entire kitchen operation at the white house and one of these individuals was Dolly Johnson. Dolly johnson was actually born into slavery in lexington, kentucky, but she later was hired to be the white house cook for president Benjamin Harrison in 1889. She was hired in particular to replace the french chef at the white house named madam pelluard who allegedly created too many fancy french meals and that the harrisons really wanted some home cooking instead. So dolly was known for her bluegrass cuisine from kentucky and she worked with another africanamerican assistant chef named Mary Robinson to make dishes like breads pies, maryland, terrapin and duck and other southern staples. There were a little bit more comfort foods to the harrisons she worked for about seven months before she had to return to lexington to care for her daughter, but she ends up returning to the white house a few years later when president Grover Cleveland returns to the white house for his second term in 1893. He requests that dolly come back to the white house and the reason that we know so much about these sort of changes and dollies life and her absences from the white house is because she really captured a lot of Media Attention. She wasnt giving interviews herself but for a few reasons she ends up being in the press more than resident staff workers typically are in this period first is that she was an African American cook elevated to the role of head cook at the white house and although she had she was not the first africanamerican chef at the white house several european white chefs had proceeded her so of course right before her not impelluard and prior to that another french chef alexandra for tom was in the role of white house cook so part of this was the fact that now they had an Africanamerican Cook at the white house and newspapers were celebrating this change in the staff. Also, the harrisons did a major renovation of the white house kitchens and so as newspapers discuss the changes that were happening downstairs at the white house descriptions of dolly and mary and their experiences were included in these reports. So thats a little bit about how we know so much about dolly. Now once again, she doesnt end up working at the white house very long for the clevelands. She ends up permanently returning to kentucky after about six months and luckily her Media Attention and her talent for cooking leads her to be very successful in opening restaurants and catering businesses in the lexington area. One of them was actually called the white house cafe. We also know that she sent a pecan wedding cake to first daughter Alice Roosevelt upon her white house wedding in 1906. So dolly really continued to foster that relationship with first families. Thats a really important part of the relationships between the residents staff. Now those relationships are not always so happy. Sometimes theyre a bit rocky if we go to the next slide, well talk about one of these individuals who i think has a really interesting story and thats white house steward hugo simon. So today one of the most important white house positions is arguably the chief usher. Theyre essentially the manager of the household. They oversee the resident staff and theyre also in charge of many of the fiscal and administrative decisions that go on at the white house. Really . They are a conduit between the west wing the east wing and the residents staff. Now in the 19th century the role of chief usher was not really official yet. And so what you see is a few other roles taking on some of those responsibilities including one called the white house steward, and that is the title that hugo diamond a german immigrant had now the reason i think that hugo diamond is so fascinating is that he had a very interesting relationship with the harrisons and with the press. So unlike other resident staff workers who prefer to stay private. They dont really give interviews. They might be mentioned in the press, but theyre not talking directly to them hugo diamond loved Media Attention. And by all counts in looking at newspaper interviews with him. He loved to weave interesting tales about gossip at the white house. So he was hired in 1889 by the harrisons and only worked at the white house again for about six months. He liked to tell people that prior to coming to the white house. He catered to prince napoleon and we do know for sure that before coming to the white house. He worked in chicago in hospitality at the hotel rich leo. Now his eccentric personality seems to have put him at odds with first Lady Caroline harrison and Caroline Harrison really valued privacy at the white house. So its no surprise that these interviews that simon was doing with the press might not have sat well with her. I love one story that i found when researching he goes. Im and thats reported in many different newspapers that a quote crank called at the white house during the Harrison Administration and promised a youth giving elixir to the staff and to the president and that while other members of the staff thought surely this is a plot or a ploy hugo simon became convinced that the man was a great scientist and bared his arm for the youth giving inoculation. Luckily. The man was evicted from the white house before he goes. Im in could get the youth giving elixir, but certainly this is one event that may have put him at odds with the first family. He also as i mentioned resigned a few months in and he gave many exit interviews about the reasons that he left the white house one newspaper asked about the quote stories that you and the first lady of the land were continually having trouble and he replied verbatim. It is absurd. I have every reason to believe that she thought a great deal of me and i was treated like a prince she was sorry to see me go. Which i just think is very reflective of his sort of persona that hes weaving in the press. Simon went on to tell other reporters that he did not leave because of his relationship with the harrisons but rather because it was too dull for him to be the white house steward and because he quote would have been chased out of the white house by the rats had he not left now. We do know that there was a bit of a pest problem in the Harrison White house there were cockroaches and rats. I dont think its as dramatic as simon makes it sound in telling newspapers that he had to keep a gun with him at all times in order to you the rats that tried to get to him at the white house . We also know that simon continued to capitalize on his time at the executive mansion after leaving by publishing the white house cookbook, which was a book that still in circulation today that explored recipes etiquette and other facets of entertaining at the executive mansion. Now on the next slide, well move into some of those more loyal Staff Members who are longterm workers at the white house and seem to have good relationships with the president s and first ladies. When talking about longterm white house resident Staff Members, i would be remiss not to mention jerry smith who was known as the white house official duster and he was born in maryland and joined the white house staff during the administration of ulysses s grant. It seems from our research that its about 1873 that he comes to the white house and he stays at the white house until the theater Roosevelt Administration just around his death in 1904. So quite a long time on staff at the white house and although he was known as the official duster as you can see in this great image of him on the screen with his feather duster. He also took on many other roles including cook butler dorman footman, really, whatever the first family needed and this is a thread that you can draw through many of these resident staff position. Is that theyre so eager and happy to help the first family in any way they can. For many years jerry also had the honor of raising and lowering the flag atop the white house. And today the flag is always top the white house. Thats been the case since the nixon administration, but jerry had that honor throughout his tenure working at the executive mansion, and he was also known for sharing ghost stories with visitors at the white house that eventually got to the press spending tales of any paranormal experiences that jerry had with the ghost of lincoln grant and William Mckinley as well as former first lady. Thanks to as many years of service. He was very close with president s first. Ladies and first families, for example, just before jerrys death in 1904 president Theodore Roosevelt took a day to personally call on jerry at his home and he assured him that if he would were to recover he would always have a place at the white house and i love this quote on the screen here from the york daily record. Im from york. So i loved finding this piece from 1903 saying what would happen to be affairs of state if jerry should retire is fearsome to contemplate. Now if we head to the next slide, well move from the interior of the white house to the exterior. So the gardens and grounds of course are just as integral to the maintenance of the white house as those interior roles are and today a lot of these responsibilities fall to the National Park service and the department of the interior, but throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries gardeners florists and botanists have been an essential part of the white house res. Typically because of the nature of this position white house gardeners stay for many years if not for decades and thats certainly the case here with henry fister who is headgardner at the white house from 1877 to 1902. So a lot of his tenure at the white house overlap with jerry smith and fister oversaw in particular the white house can servatory and the greenhouses so you can see this on this screen here a fabulous photograph of sister in the conservatory and he oversaw purchasing flowers breeding flowers and all the growth of plants at the white house conservatory and outside on the grounds. He also sort of filled a position as florist selecting flowers for state dinners White House Events and things for display in sort of this private living quarters for the first family. Visitors botanical work continued until 1902 that year president roosevelt ordered the creation of new executive offices to the west of the house. Thats what we know today as the west wing which meant demolishing the white house conservatory and greenhouses that were on top of that land. So pfister was relieved from his post when the conservatory was no longer on the white house grounds and 25 years after starting there, but we do know that he continued his passion for florals and botany by opening his own florist shop in washington, dc. Now on the next slide were gonna move a little bit into the 20th century and more more modern white house workers. So two that i have on the screen here as i mentioned earlier and its not uncommon when looking at the white house staff to see husbands and wives or family members working together and that certainly the case that you can see here with the mcduffys. So elizabeth and ervin who are better known as lizzie and mac mcduffi