“President Theodore Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington, former slave, distinguished educator, and renowned orator, to have dinner with the First Family in the White House family quarters. Booker T. accepted, and along with Mrs. Roosevelt, their sons, and another guest, spent a convivial evening eating, drinking, and discussing politics and current events. The next morning, the news that a black man had dinner with the President at the White House sent shockwaves through the nation. Although blacks built the White House and worked for most of the Presidents, including Roosevelt, not a single African American had ever been invited to dine there.”
