White House Historical Association

Flossie F. Malachi

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"Flossie F. Malachi," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whitehouseworkers.org/Detail/workers/905.
Position
Pantrywoman
Years in President's House
circa 1945 – circa 1953
Gender
Female
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Presidency
Harry S. Truman
Biography
Flossie Malachi (née Ficklin) was born on July 31, 1925, in Amissville, Virginia. Her father, James Strother Ficklin, was born into slavery and later became a free man.1 Her brothers Charles and John Ficklin worked full-time as butlers at the White House, and during Truman’s presidency, Flossie and her sister, Mary Anderson, were pantry girls “on-call, brought in to perform various domestic tasks related to social and residential activities in the White House.” Another brother, Samuel, was also a part-time worker on the staff from 1941-1991.2 Flossie recalled that during one Truman-era event, Butler John Pye commented: “There’s a Ficklin here, and a Ficklin there. Everywhere I look, there’s a Ficklin.”3 Flossie Malachi died on October 14, 2019, and was buried at Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Brentwood, Maryland.4
  1. “Flossie F Malachi,” Dignity Memorial, https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/brentwood-md/flossie-f-malachi-8891371; John Wrory Ficklin, An Usual Path: Three Generations from Slavery to the White House (White House Historical Association, 2026).
  2. John Wrory Ficklin, An Usual Path: Three Generations from Slavery to the White House (White House Historical Association, 2026), 48.
  3. “Family,” The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri), February 9, 2016, pg. A8.
  4. “Flossie F Malachi,” Dignity Memorial, https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/brentwood-md/flossie-f-malachi-8891371.
Birthplace
Amissville, Virginia, USA
Burial Place
Fort Lincoln Cemetery
Blue markers indicate birthplaces and green markers indicate burial places. Black markers are used for places of both birth and burial.
Related Workers
Samuel L. Ficklin
Butler, Dishwasher, 1941 – 1991
Charles E. Ficklin
Butler, 1939 – 1965
John W. Ficklin
Butler, 1939 – 1983
Mary Anderson
Pantrywoman, circa 1945 – circa 1953
Related Association Content
An Unusual Path: Three Generations From Slavery to the White House
Author John Wrory Ficklin discusses his book, "An Unusual Path: Three Generations From Slavery to the White House." Ficklin, who retired in 2015 after forty years of White House service, shares his family’s remarkable story and how the Ficklins became a multi-generational institution at the White House.
External Content