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A Witness to History, He Served 36 years in the White House
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by Karen Hatter | November 8, 2008 at 05:36 am
388 views | 80 Recommendations | 8 comments
From Watoday.com:
For more than three decades Eugene Allen worked in the White House, a black man unknown to the headlines. During some of those years, harsh segregation laws lay upon the land.
Mr. Eugene Allen served as butler in the White House under eight administrations, beginning in 1952, serving during the end of President Harry S. Truman's presidency.
From the article:
In the mid-1950s invitations to the White House were still fraught with racial subtext. When the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow pianist Hazel Scott to perform at Constitution Hall because of her race, many letters poured into the White House decrying the DAR's position. First lady Bess Truman was a member of the organisation, but made no effort to get the DAR to alter its policy.
Mr. Allen retired in 1986 after 34 years of service at the White House.
He cast his vote for Barack Obama on Tuesday, November 4, 2008.
Click here to read the original article.
UPDATE:
Mr. Eugene Allen passed away Wednesday, March 31, 2010.
Eugene Allen, a White House butler who served presidents from Harry Truman through Ronald Reagan, has died. He was 90.
Allen died of renal failure Wednesday at a hospital in Takoma Park, Md., The Washington Post reported Friday.
Allen, who was black, started at the White House in 1952, when racial segregation prohibited him from using public restrooms in his native state of Virginia. When he left the White House in 1986 after 34 years, he had witnessed not only defining moments in the country's history, but also in America's civil rights movement.
And on Jan. 20, 2009, he watched Barack Obama being sworn in as the nation's first black president.
"I never would have believed it," Allen told the Post from his seat at the inauguration. "In the 1940s and 1950s, there were so many things in America you just couldn't do. You wouldn't even dream that you could dream of a moment like this."
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (8)
at 06:12 on November 8th, 2008
What a great, and sad, story.
at 07:35 on November 8th, 2008
Sounds like slavery to me. I could never serve War Presidents...
at 09:25 on November 8th, 2008
These types of stories show the world how deep segregation ran in this country. It seems every facet of life was affected by it..even in the White House.
at 11:12 on November 8th, 2008
Thanks for this interesting part of History. It would be funny of all of Pres Obama's service staff were white folks...
at 11:14 on November 8th, 2008
Harry and Bess must have been an interesting pair, though I always thought him hen-pecked. She wouldn't stand up to the DAR over racism and Harry integrated the services. No wonder he drank and played cards with his pals so much.
[chuckle]
at 12:10 on November 8th, 2008
As always! Thank you for your illustrative story. A delight to read.
at 14:50 on November 8th, 2008
Just look at how far the country has come. When someone has a dream, sometimes they do come true!
at 15:08 on November 8th, 2008
Lovely story