Elizabeth Moore

Elizabeth Moore was born in Virginia around 1901.¹ Moore cooked for Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Governor’s Mansion in Albany, New York, and joined the White House staff just after President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Inauguration in March 1933.² There, she served as second cook under Head Cook Ida Allen, assisting with the preparation of dinners and desserts alongside other kitchen staff including Catherine Smith and Elizabeth Blake.³ Housekeeper Henrietta Nesbitt recalled in her memoir that “Elizabeth Moore was an exception to the rule that cooks are bad tempered. She had a wonderful disposition” and that President Roosevelt “liked Elizabeth and her cooking.”⁴ 

In 1935, the kitchens underwent a massive renovation project that modernized the space with “electric appliances includ[ing] a 16 foot long stove, six roasting ovens, warming ovens, eight refrigerators, new dumbwaiters, a meat grinder, all sorts of mixers, five dishwashers, waffle irons, a soup kettle, a 30 gallon ice cream storage box, and a deep fry pan that could hold 5 gallons of fat.” One can imagine the impact such a renovation would have had on Elizabeth Moore’s role.⁵ 

By the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death in 1945, Moore had been promoted to head cook, and continued in the role when President Harry S. Truman assumed office.⁶ She appears on First Lady Bess Truman’s 1946 staff Christmas list, but beyond that information about her life is scarce.⁷