White House Historical Association

Willie T. Shuford

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"Willie T. Shuford," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whitehouseworkers.org/Detail/workers/1236.
Position
Houseman
Years in President's House
1976 – 1995
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Presidencies
Gerald R. Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Bill Clinton
Biography
Willie Thomas Shuford was born on September 20, 1936, in Raleigh, North Carolina.1 He later relocated to Washington, D.C. and worked for the Department of the Interior prior to joining the White House staff in 1976 as as a houseman.2 For nearly two decades, Shuford dusted, swept, vacuumed, and maintained the cleanliness of the public and private spaces of the White House.3 Willie Shuford passed away on September 14, 1995, and was buried at Carolina Biblical Gardens in Garner, North Carolina.4 
  1. Willie Thomas Shuford, Wake, North Carolina, U.S. Birth Certificate Index, 1870-2005, Tammy L. Brunner Wake County Register of Deeds; Wake, North Carolina, USA; Birth Certificate Index; URL: https://vitalrecords.wakegov.com/web/search/DOCSEARCH224S1, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/63277/records/62968?tid=183125165&pid=192719092903&ssrc=pt. 
  2. “Willie T. Shuford,” The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), September 23, 1995, pg. 22. 
  3. White House Office of the Curator, e-mail message to author, March 16, 2026. 
  4. “Willie T. Shuford,” The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), September 23, 1995, pg. 22; “Willie T. Shuford,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58819808/willie-t-shuford. 
Birthplace
Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Burial Place
Carolina Biblical Gardens
Blue markers indicate birthplaces and green markers indicate burial places. Black markers are used for places of both birth and burial.