Jospeh W. Mayo
- Position
- Plumber
- Years in President's House
- circa 1950 – circa 1961
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Black or African American
- Biography
Joseph Woodson Mayo was born on April 4, 1894, in Washington, D.C. In 1940, Mayo worked for the Federal Works Agency, a government program created as part of the New Deal to boost the economy during the Great Depression by organizing public construction projects.1
Mayo’s exact years of service at the White House are currently unclear, but government records suggest that he worked there as early as 1950 under President Harry S. Truman and as late as 1961 under President John F. Kennedy.2 A Residence Staff list from 1961 identifies Mayo as a plumber, a job that entailed maintaining the various water systems on White House property including in bathrooms and kitchens as well as outdoor fountains and water features.3
Joseph Mayo passed away on September 28, 1961, and was buried in Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Silver Hill, Maryland.4
- “Joseph Woodson Mayo,” U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, accessed via Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1002/records/17744128
- “Joseph W Mayo,” 1950 United States Federal Census, accessed via Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62308/records/15940187?tid=&pid=&queryId=ba83d891-2a8c-422d-9885-8aaf59b3c805&_phsrc=KCT3426&_phstart=successSource
- “Christmas: 1961 (2 of 2 folders),” Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Personal Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
- Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), September 30, 1961, pg. 30.
- Birthplace
- Washington, D.C., USA
- Burial Place
- Lincoln Memorial Cemetery
- Blue markers indicate birthplaces and green markers indicate burial places. Black markers are used for places of both birth and burial.
- External Content