Blacks in the White House: Slavery and service

updated 11:17 a.m. ET Dec. 8, 2008

WASHINGTON - The first child born at the White House was the grandson of President Thomas Jefferson. The second child born there was his property — the African-American baby of Jefferson's two slaves.

Slaves not only helped build the White House, but also for decades men and women in bondage served America's presidents and first families as butlers, cooks and maids.

Two hundred years later, Barack Obama's election as the 44th president — the first black chief executive — is casting a spotlight on the complicated history of African-Americans and the exalted place they called home — the White House.

During and after slavery, black workers made the White House function. Obama's entry on Jan. 20, 2009, will be a moment for the ages that few of them could imagine.

"I'm very proud of the fact we're going to have an African-American president and I think the help is going to be pleased to be working for an African-American president," said 89-year-old William Bowen Jr., a second-generation White House butler who worked for Presidents Dwight Eisenhower to George H.W. Bush.

When Bowen started at the White House in 1957, the civil rights movement was still in its infancy, segregation was still legal and African-Americans were just penetrating the upper echelons of government service.

People like Bowen, employed at the White House before the civil rights and feminist movements, were the "help."

Surrounded by presidential memorabilia in his suburban Maryland home — including a newspaper trumpeting Obama's victory — Bowen is contemplating coming out of retirement to work for the first black president.

Blogging the election For three days surrounding the 2008 election, msnbc.com reporters blogged on the reactions of African-Americans and others in the Bronx, N.Y., Nashville, Tenn. and Seattle as NBC News correspondents reported from elsewhere. Click here to read the coverage and readers' response.

"I never thought, coming up, that this would ever happen. Not in my lifetime," Bowen said.

His father, William Bowen, left his job at the Washington Navy Yard after World War I to become a White House butler. He soon recruited his son to work there as a mail carrier and part-time butler. The senior Bowen taught him the White House domestic code of silence, which White House workers observe to this day.

"Pay attention and don't be talking to people while on your assignment," Bowen Jr. remembered his father lecturing. "Don't unnecessarily engage some of the guests unless they speak to you."

It was hard sometimes, with celebrities such as Duke Ellington and Pearl Bailey frequenting White House parties and dinners. To this day, Bowen remembers conversations with presidents and first ladies, but they are something he still will not repeat.

"You don't talk about things that happened on the job," Bowen said.

Video   Historic importance of 2008 campaign June 4: A Hardball panel discusses how Sen. Barack Obama made history by becoming the first African-American to represent a major political party during the race for the president. Hardball

A century before the Bowens, slaves labored inside and outside the White House. Washington planner Pierre L'Enfant rented slaves from nearby owners to dig the foundation for the White House. White House designer James Hoben used some of his slave carpenters to build it.

President George Washington forced slaves from Mount Vernon to work as staff inside "the President's House" in Philadelphia during his term. Thus began a tradition of enslaved men and women working for the president in his residence, a practice that continued until the 1850s.

Not only did they work in the White House, enslaved men and women lived there as well. According to the White House Historical Association, the slave and servant quarters were in the basement, now called the ground floor. The rooms now include the library, china room, offices and the formal Diplomatic Reception Room. At least one African-American baby was born there, in 1806 to Fanny and Eddy, two of Jefferson's slaves. The child, who was also considered a slave, died two years later.

MORE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE

The White House Section Front

White House says top lawyer to step down   Obama hails greater U.S.-Asia ties Obama 'so hot' in China ahead of trip Obama eyes domestic spending freeze Obama's Afghan decision sends messages Napolitano says U.S. border is more secure now Official: Obama rejects war options Obama remembers Fort Hood victims Obama team reaches out to airline industry Confidence in Obama slips more, poll shows The White House Section Front   Add The White House headlines to your news reader: