Donning his black hat and picking up his suitcase, Alonzo Fields walked to the bus stop, awaiting the bus that would take him away from his 21-year career as chief butler at the White House.
Magnolia Mound Plantation celebrated Black History Month on Saturday by presenting its 7th annual celebration, which included a performance by Oneal Isaac portraying Alonzo Fields. Isaac began the program by telling the audience about the days of segregation he remembered from when he was a boy. He then transformed into Fields.
Fields, an African-American store owner who dreamed of having a career in music, was offered a job as a servant in an MIT professor’s home. When the professor passed away, Fields was invited to work in the White House under President Herbert Hoover. Fields had only planned to work one winter.
“That one winter turned into 21 years,” Isaac said.
Fields worked as chief butler for four presidents  — Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower.
India Jones, from Metairie, La., attended the program and said the performance was enjoyable because it was a part of history.
“Black history is always an oral history,” Jones said. “This is basically more of an oral tradition that’s been going on for