Lillian Rogers Parks (February 1, 1897 – November 6, 1997) was an American

housemaid A maid, or housemaid or maidservant, is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era domestic service was the second largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids ...

and

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Notab ...

in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800 ...

. With the journalist Frances Spatz Leighton, co-author of a number of White House memoirs, Parks published ''

My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House ''My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House'' is a 1961 autobiographical novel by Lillian Rogers Parks written with Frances Spatz Leighton. The title of the memoir was based on Parks' recollections of thirty years as a seamstress in the White ...

.'' The book covers a 50-year period in the life of

domestic staff A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...

in the White House. It reports Parks' experiences as a seamstress, and those of her mother, 'Maggie' Rogers, who served as a housemaid for thirty years. Lillian Rogers Parks was portrayed by

Leslie Uggams Leslie Marian Uggams (born May 25, 1943) is an American actress and singer. Beginning her career as a child in the early 1950s, Uggams is recognized for portraying Kizzy Reynolds in the television miniseries '' Roots'' (1977), earning Golden Glob ...

in the 1979 miniseries ''

Backstairs at the White House ''Backstairs at the White House'' is a 1979 NBC television miniseries based on the 1961 book ''My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House'' by Lillian Rogers Parks (with Frances Spatz Leighton). The series, produced by Ed Friendly Productions, ...

''. Many of the gifts she received (revealed in the aforementioned book) from presidents during her time there later became notable artifacts and collectibles associated with presidential history, eventually ending up in the Raleigh DeGeer Amyx Collection. She also published ''The Roosevelts: A Family in Turmoil'' in 1981 in collaboration with Frances Spatz Leighton. She was an honorary member of

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the Historically black ...

sorority.

Publications

*1961: ''My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House''. New York: Fleet (with F. S. Leighton) *1969: ''It was Fun Working at the White House''. New York: Fleet (with F. S. Leighton) *1981: ''The Roosevelts: A Family in Turmoil''. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall (with F. S. Leighton)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parks, Lillian Rogers 1897 births 1997 deaths American centenarians Maids White House staff African-American centenarians 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American women non-fiction writers Women centenarians American domestic workers Alpha Kappa Alpha members 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century African-American writers