“I never dreamed I could work in a place like this."– Cecil Gaines

Illustration by Amelia Kieras


“You hear nothing. You see nothing. You only serve.” – Freddie Fallows (White House maitre d’)

Illustration by Amelia Kieras


“I’m working for the white man to make things better for us.” – Cecil Gaines

Illustration by Amelia Kieras


“If I can’t sit at any lunch counter I want, I might as well be dead.” – Louis Gaines (Cecil Gaines' son)

Illustration by Amelia Kieras


“The whole world was changing and I didn’t know how I fit in.” – Cecil Gaines

Illustration by Amelia Kieras


“Everything you are and everything you have is because of that butler.” – Gloria Gaines (Cecil Gaines' wife) to Louis

Illustration by Amelia Kieras


“Vietnam took my boy and I didn’t understand why we were there in the first place.” – Cecil Gaines

Illustration by Amelia Kieras


“I’m going to have to be paid the same as the white help or I’ll be moving on.” – Cecil Gaines

Illustration by Amelia Kieras


“I could see the two faces the butler wore to serve and I knew I lived my life by those two faces.” – Cecil Gaines (at a state dinner)

Illustration by Amelia Kieras


“I never thought I would see a black man as a real contender for President of the United States.” – Cecil Gaines

Illustration by Amelia Kieras


Published 08/20/2013