By NAN Contributor
News Americas, WASHINGTON, D.C., Mon. May 8, 2017: Between Friday and over the weekend, news of the firing of the Jamaican-born, first female White House usher made its rounds on social media, as Caribbean nationals and Jamaican nationals reposted and weighed in. Here are 8 things you should know about Angela Reid.
1: Angela Reid was born in Trinityville in the Parish of Saint Thomas in Jamaica West Indies.
2: She attended the Excelsior High School in Kingston, Jamaica and later took up a job as a front office trainee at the Half Moon hotel in Montego Bay in 1978.
3: She continued her career in hospitality and holds a degree in Hospitality Management from the Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft School in Munich, Germany.
4: Reid was director of Operations at the Renaissance New York Hotel in New York City and also served as general manager at the Hartford Marriott Rocky Hill Hotel in Connecticut.
5: Prior to her White House post she was general manager at The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City, Arlington, Virginia and prior to that served in management positions at The Ritz-Carlton properties in Miami, Florida and Washington, D.C.
6: Reid, 58, was the first woman to serve as “Chief Usher” at the White House and was the ninth person in the role as Director of the President’s Executive Residence. She replaced Rear Admiral Stephen W. Rochon, USCG (Ret.), in the post in 2011 under the President Barack Obama administration.
7: As Chief Usher, Reid was responsible for overseeing all aspects of the operations and activities within the Executive Residence and on the Executive Residence grounds. Among her many responsibilities, Reid oversaw management of the Executive Residence to ensure activities and resources are used efficiently and effectively. She also maintained close liaison with the White House Historical Association, the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, and other related entities to maintain and preserve the historic People’s House. Reid also oversaw the annual inventory of White House property, conducted by the Office of the Curator and the National Park Service.
8: Reid is conversational in German and basic Spanish. Her firing was reported first by the Washington Post on Friday. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a spokeswoman for President Trump, confirmed Reid was no longer in the chief usher position Friday. “She is no longer employed here at the White House, but we left on very good terms,” Sanders said. “It’s not uncommon you would have a transition of staff when a new administration comes in, and it’s nothing more than that.”
