Learn about slavery and the White House.
Happy Friday. I firmly believe that in order to get to where we're going, we have to look back and learn from our past. Today's newsletter aims to offer a historical lens to the current conversations about the White House. It directly correlates the relationship between enslaved and essential workers, and demonstrates how far our nation has to grow to redefine the world we want to live in.
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TAKE ACTION
Read the names and stories of the known enslaved people associated with the White House, provided by the White House Historical Association >
Vote for a candidate that’s more likely to protect essential workers – starting with those in the White House.
Research: Find three historical buildings of note in your community and/or that have personal significance, and research how they were constructed.
GET EDUCATED
By Nicole Cardoza (she/her)
There are endless reports on the senior staffers who have contracted COVID-19 from the September 26 Rose Garden event. But there’s a lot less about the staff – particularly the residence staff – that have potentially been exposed to the virus. We do know that two housekeepers have tested positive for COVID-19 and were told to discuss their diagnosis with “discretion” (Forbes). But what else don’t we know? These essential workers, nearly all identifying as people of color, deserve to be represented in this narrative and protected at all costs. Unfortunately, stories of communities of color in the White House are often overlooked and forgotten – a practice consistent with its dark history.
The White House starts with Black people – in fact, they built it. Known as the President’s House during this time, the founders were keen on a building to house the country’s leader within the newly established federal city, Washington, D.C. President George Washington initially planned to import workers from Europe to complete the ambitious project but had trouble recruiting staff. Instead, they decided to “contract” enslaved laborers from neighboring communities. The government paid the owners – not the enslaved people themselves – for their labor (White House Historical Association).
This was common. Often, owners would rent out the people they enslaved for extra money. The enslaved person would provide the labor, while the contract holder would pay a wage directly to the owner. The White House Historical Association (WHHA) was able to piece together some of the names of enslaved people who contributed to the project based on whether the owners included it on the payroll information (WHHA).
Note: This information is provided by the White House Historical Association, a private nonprofit which acts independently from the government. Although information on the construction is available on the official whitehouse.gov, there’s no mention of the enslaved people that brought it to life.
Enslaved people did the bulk of the construction work, from creating the raw materials needed for the project, to leveling the ground and building it. Many other government buildings in DC, including the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol, were also made by enslaved people (Curbed). The National Museum of African American History and Culture has a block of Aquia Creek sandstone removed from the East Front of U.S. Capitol in their collection:
“Enslaved African Americans, leased out by their slave owners, mined sandstone from local quarries and built the United States Capitol, the White House, and the Smithsonian Castle. Congress, the institution that guarded the peoples’ freedom, held sessions in a building constructed by forced labor, and the legislators would have witnessed lines of shackled slaves marching by daily en route to the Deep South” (NMAAHC).
And enslaved people were also exploited inside the White House once complete. Back then, each President was required to pay for all White House expenses, including staff, out of pocket. It was “too costly” to hire fair waged laborers, so enslaved people were instead forced into a wide range of roles like chefs, gardeners, stable hands, maids, butlers, lady’s maids, and valet (WHHA).
At least nine presidents either brought enslaved people with them to the White House or used the same “contract” agreement mentioned earlier for staffing. Some even purchased enslaved people directly; President Andrew Jackson bought a young eight-year-old enslaved girl named Emeline to work at the White House (Washington Post). And speaking of children, the first child born at the White House was born to Ursula Granger Hughes, a fourteen-year-old enslaved cook, enslaved by Thomas Jefferson. The child died a few months later (WHHA).
“The Female I have none, but those I brought with me, except a Negro woman who is wholy with the Cook in the kitchin, and I am happy in not having any occasion for any others for a very sad set of creatures they are.”
First Lady Abigail Adams, 1793
"I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves."
First Lady Michelle Obama, 2016
Nowadays, much of the staff is “composed of African American, Latino or Filipino employees” (Washington Post). In contrast to other staffing roles at the White House, which had a 36% turnover rate before the Trump administration (Forbes), residence staffers often stay in these roles for life. Some positions at the White House have been held exclusively by Black people, like the butler corps. Wilson Jerman, a longtime White House butler, started his career with President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1957 and retired in 2012 after serving Barack Obama. He passed away from COVID-19 in May (NYTimes). And many of these workers are also older, which makes them especially vulnerable to COVID-19 (Washington Post). According to a former staffer, residence staff decided on their own to start wearing masks and following CDC guidelines, even though the White House itself had no protocol (Washington Post).
Like all the others keeping our country operating right now, these essential workers deserve safety and security. The Trump administration chooses to support the White House’s essential workers with the same disregard as they face across the U.S. It’s a disappointing depiction of who is seen and centered in times of crisis – and adds to a long history of exploitation and abuse of communities of color within the White House.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The White House was built, and tended to, by enslaved people in its early history
The majority of residence staffers now are people of color, and most are older – which exacerbates health concerns
The lack of protection for essential workers inside the White House mirrors the same disregard we've seen during Trump's entire campaign
RELATED ISSUES
10/1/2020 | Vote Trump out of office.
7/3/2020 | Share these words by Frederick Douglass.
6/24/2020 | Fight voter suppression.
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