Eugene "Gene" Charles Allen, "The Butler"

Eugene Charles Allen @ find a grave

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Eugene Charles Allen, the African American White House Butler whose life is the basis for the 2013 film, "The Butler", was born 14 July 1919 at Scottsville, Albemarle County, Virginia, United States. This profile is meant to honor Eugene's legacy and service to his country.

Allen was raised in a log cabin in Virginia during a time of harsh segregation. As a White House butler, he served eight presidents, from Harry S. Truman to Ronald Reagan. Allen was behind the doors of the White House during the Little Rock school crisis, the 1963 March on Washington, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy and King assassinations, the Vietnam War, Watergate and many other epochal events. Such was Allen's reputation inside the White House that Nancy Reagan invited him to attend a state dinner for German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Allen danced with his wife that night and sipped champagne, probably the first butler to be invited to a state dinner. "He was such a charming man," said Delores Moaney, who worked at the White House as a maid during the Eisenhower administration. "You'd notice his smile right away."

In the course of his work, Allen met famous people like civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and composer Duke Ellington, and traveled with Presidents Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter. He and President Gerald Ford shared the same birthday, and Allen was included in the official festivities during Ford's tenure at the White House.

After 34 years of White House service, Allen retired in 1986. Years later, he and his wife, Helene Arnetta Lee Allen (1922 - 2008), were profiled in a 2008 Washington Post article. The Allens were looking forward to voting for Barack Obama, the first African American presidential candidate. Helene, however, died the day before the election, and Allen went to the polls by himself. He later received a VIP invitation to Obama's swearing-in. Following Allen's death in 2010, President Obama said that Allen's service to the country and his "abiding patriotism...represents an important part of the American story." His funeral service was packed by several hundred people who gathered to celebrate his life and the national narrative he embodied. Allen's son, Charles, shared a memory: "My father came home late on the day that President Kennedy had been shot. But then he got up and put his coat back on. He said, 'I've got to go back to work.' But in the hallway, he fell against the wall and started crying. That was the first time in my life I had ever seen my father cry."

The man who excelled at silent service, at remaining behind the scenes, became the subject of wide acclaim following the publication of a book based on his life, "The Butler", written by Washington Post staffer Wil Haygood. Before dying in 2010, he signed over the movie rights to his life. Eugene Allen died of renal failure on 31 March 2010 at Washington Adventists Hospital, Takoma Park, Montgomery County, Maryland, and was buried at Rock Creek Cemetery, Plot: Sec 20, Lot 224, Site 1, Washington, District of Columbia, United States. He was laid to rest next to Helene, wearing a gray evening suit, a White House pin on his lapel and a pair of snow-white gloves. Due to the success of Haygood's book, Eugene's story has now been turned into a movie starring Forest Whittaker and Oprah Winfrey as the Allens. "The story of Eugene Allen, a kind, humble, and patriotic man, who lived in this city for so long with such a close relationship to power, and yet never sought the spotlight for himself, reminded me that at the end of the day it's the human factor that matters. Presidents and policies come and go [but] love and relationships are what makes life worthwhile," wrote Tess VandenDolder, Staff Writer for InTheCapital.com

Marriage and Children

Eugene Charles Allen married Helene Arnetta Lee (1922 - 2008) in 1942. They had one child, Charles Allen.

Discussion

Eugene Allen's parentage does not seem to be documented in any of the obituaries or profiles available. He was approximately six months old when enumerated in the 1920 U.S. Federal Census as a boarder in the Virginia home of Charlie and Susan Brown (along with his older brother and sister, Albert and Emma). There was an Allen family enumerated on either side of the Brown home; could the Browns have been an aunt or uncle to the Allen children?

In the 1930 census, Eugene, Albert and Emma are enumerated with the surname "Brown", and Charlie and Susan Brown as listed as their parents. Also included in the household is Geator Brown, two years younger than Eugene. No other Allen families are shown as neighbors. Perhaps by this time the Allen children were adopted by the Browns, formally or informally.

When enumerated in the 1940 census, Eugene is working as a domestic for the Butts family of Montgomery, Maryland, and has returned to using the "Allen" surname.

Sources and Further Information

• InTheCapital.com article
• Washington Post obituary
• Biography.com profile
• Ebony article
• TheNewsMachine.com article
• Find A Grave Memorial# 50569149
• Haygood, Wil (November 7, 2008). "A Butler Well Served by This Election" The Washington Post.
• Wiki: The Butler
• Wiki: Eugene Allen
• IMDB review: The Butler
• 1920 United States Federal Census. Name: Eugene Allen; Age: 0 [6/12] ; Birth Year: abt 1920 [abt 1919] ; Birthplace: Virginia; Home in 1920: Slate River, Buckingham, Virginia; Race: Black; Gender: Male; Relation to Head of House: Boarder; Marital Status: Single; Father's Birthplace: Virginia; Mother's Birthplace: Virginia; Household Members: Charlie Brown 30; Susan Brown 27; Eugene Allen 0 [6/12] ; Albert Allen 2 [2 8/12] ; Emma Allen 1 [1 2/12] . Source Citation: Year: 1920; Census Place: Slate River, Buckingham, Virginia; Roll: T625_1883; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 71; Image: 281. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• 1930 United States Federal Census. Name: Eugean Brown [Eugene Brown]; Gender: Male; Birth Year: abt 1920; Birthplace: Virginia; Race: Negro (Black); Home in 1930: Scottsville, Albemarle, Virginia; Marital Status: Single; Relation to Head of House: Son; Father's Name: Charlie Brown; Father's Birthplace: Virginia; Mother's Name: Susian Brown; Mother's Birthplace: Virginia; Household Members: Charlie Brown 38; Susian Brown 32; Albert Brown 13; Emma Brown 11; Eugean Brown 10; Geater Brown 8. Source Citation: Year: 1930; Census Place: Scottsville, Albemarle, Virginia; Roll: 2434; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 13; Image: 394.0; FHL microfilm: 2342168. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.
• 1940 United States Federal Census. Name: Eugene O Allen; Age: 20; Estimated Birth Year: abt 1920; Gender: Male; Race: Negro (Black); Birthplace: Virginia; Marital Status: Single; Relation to Head of House: Servant; Home in 1940: Montgomery, Maryland; Street: Underwood; House Number: 10; Inferred Residence in 1935: Scottville, Albermarle, Virginia; Residence in 1935: Scottville, Albermarle, Virginia; Resident on farm in 1935: Yes; Sheet Number: 18B; Occupation: Domestic; Attended School or College: No; Highest Grade Completed: High School, 2nd year; Hours Worked Week Prior to Census: 50; Class of Worker: Wage or salary worker in private work; Weeks Worked in 1939: 52; Income: 600; Household Members: Charles Shannon Butts 38; Vera Hickman Butts 36; Charles Shannon Butts 2; Francis Moon Butts 62; Eugene O Allen 20. Source Citation: Year: 1940; Census Place: , Montgomery, Maryland; Roll: T627_1554; Page: 18B; Enumeration District: 16-26C. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls.
• U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 1. Name: Eugene C Allen; Birth Date: 14 Jul 1919; Address: 710 Otis Pl NW, Washington, DC, 20010-1704 (1993). Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 1 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Voter Registration Lists, Public Record Filings, Historical Residential Records, and Other Household Database Listings
• U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-Current. Name: Eugene C. Allen; Last Residence: 20010 Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Born: 14 Jul 1919; Died: 31 Mar 2010; State (Year) SSN issued: Virginia (Before 1951). Source Citation: ; Issue State: Virginia; Issue Date: Before 1951. Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2011. Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.