Donald A. Major

On April 16, 1934, Donald Alfred Major was born in Washington, D.C.¹ While still a teenager, Major owned and worked at a restaurant called Donald’s Snack Bar.² From 1952 to 1955, he served in the United States Marine Corps as a cook.³  

The exact years of Major’s work at the White House are currently unknown, but his obituary stated that he “received the distinct honor of working as a Chef at the White House under the Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson Administrations.”⁴ This is reinforced by a list of Residence staff compiled in 1961 under President Kennedy in which Major is included and identified as working in the kitchen.⁵ Little else is known about his work at the White House at this time.

After leaving the White House, Major worked as a corrections officer at a Washington, D.C. jail for twenty-three years. Outside of work, Major regularly attended St. Matthews Baptist Church, and was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). Major passed away on September 16, 2018, and was buried at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Maryland.⁶