White House Historical Association

Nellie L. Brown Butler

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"Nellie L. Brown Butler," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whitehouseworkers.org/Detail/workers/691.
Positions
Cook
Kitchen Assistant
Maid
Years in President's House
1927 – circa 1964
Gender
Female
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Presidencies
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
Biography
Nellie L. Butler (nee Brown) was born in Washington, D.C. around 1900.1 Beginning in 1927, Nellie worked at the White House as a kitchenmaid and housemaid. She likely obtained this role through her brother, Charles C. Brown, who had worked as a houseman at the White House for over a decade.2 Brown married James H. Butler in 1944.3 She served at the White House through at least 1964; by that time, she worked as a “wardrobe maid” or “restroom matron.”4 On January 6, 1964, First Lady Lady Bird Johnson hosted a reception for White House employees. The event, held after the end of the mourning period for President John F. Kennedy, was a chance for the Johnsons to meet the staff. Mrs. Johnson noted in that day’s diary entry: “One of the best things was to meet…the people who have been there the longest— Miss Nellie Butler, who had come as a cook during the Coolidge administration... This is one of the nicest parties I ever expect to have here, because its guests are people I think most deserve to come to a party.”5 It is unclear when Butler departed from the White House and details about her later life are scarce.
  1. Nellie Brown in the 1930 United States Federal Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia; Page: 13A; Enumeration District: 0214; FHL microfilm: 2340033, Ancestry.com.
  2. Christmas 1930, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1930, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; Employees on Duty at the Executive Office, 1929, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1929, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; White House Employees, 1932, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1932, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; Xmas List 1931, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, White House Christmas 1931, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; "Servants on the White House Staff," 1933, Folder: White House Functions: Records and Correspondence, Office of Social Entertainments, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York; "Negro Employees at the White House Executive Office, and White House Garage as of March 31, 1933," White House Office Personnel, 1933-1935; Records of the White House Office of Budget and Accounting, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York; Ellen A. Riley to Lou Henry Hoover, January 1929, Lou Henry Hoover Papers, Subject Files, Servants and Aides General 1929-1933, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.
  3. Nellie L. Brown in the 1940 United States Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: m-t0627-00572; Page: 62B; Enumeration District: 1-551, Ancestry.com.
  4. Personnel Changes 1948-1949, July 1, 1948, Records of the White House Office: Records Relating to Accounts, Purchases and Personnel (Record Group 130), Harry S. Truman Library; Personnel Changes 1947-1948, July 1, 1947, Records of the White House Office: Records Relating to Accounts, Purchases and Personnel (Record Group 130), Harry S. Truman Library; “1,000 at Johnson Party for White House Staff,” New York Times, January 7, 1964, pg. 15; Nellie Butler, 1950 United States Federal Census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: 2525; Page: 77; Enumeration District: 1-1200, Ancestry.com.
  5. Lady Bird Johnson, White House Diary (University of Texas Press, 2007), 31-32; “Lady Bird’s White House Plans,” San Fransisco Examiner (San Francisco, CA), January 17, 1964, pg. 26.
Birthplace
Washington, D.C., USA
Blue markers indicate birthplaces and green markers indicate burial places. Black markers are used for places of both birth and burial.
Related Worker
Charles C. Brown
Houseman, 1918 – 1931