William Slade (died March 16, 1868) was 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 ...

usher, which at the time was "one of the highest posts available to a black Washingtonian"; he acted as

valet A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "valet ...

, confidential messenger, doorkeeper, and majordomo to

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

, and remained in charge of the White House after Lincoln died (t. 1861 – 1868).

Career

Previously Slade had kept a boardinghouse in Washington and served as a messenger in the Treasury Department. When Slade became Lincoln's majordomo, he became trusted by Lincoln with confidential secrets. In his 1942 book ''They Knew Lincoln'', historian John Washington calls Slade the “confidential messenger and confidant” to the President, wherein the President would give Slade private missions to perform and in exchange Slade "kept the closest mouth on all public affairs and would never discuss any of Lincoln’s plans or business with anyone." After his death, Slade's daughter recorded that her father had destroyed some old documents of Lincoln's. In addition, Lincoln used to test the lines of some of his speeches out on Slade. He was an elder of a

Black church The black church (sometimes termed Black Christianity or African American Christianity) is the faith and body of Christian congregations and denominations in the United States that minister predominantly to African Americans, as well as their ...

, the 15th Street Presbyterian Church in Washington. Slade was also an activist within his community. He urged Lincoln to give Washington D.C.'s African American men a say over the officers who were selected for their regiments. He also was active in arguing for the right to vote, and he corresponded with

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

about the Johnson White House after Lincoln's death.

In popular culture

In the 2012 film ''

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

'' directed by Steven Spielberg, Slade was played by Stephen McKinley Henderson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slade, William Lincoln administration personnel 19th-century African-American people White House staff American Presbyterians