First Lady Lou Henry Hoover invited De Priest to the traditional tea along with several other congressmen's wives, resulting in racist backlash from media outlets and the public.

[1] Emma and James Williams moved from Pennsylvania to Rockford, Illinois, in Winnebago County shortly after the end of the Civil War in 1865.

[7] De Priest resided in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, for the remainder of her life, and her final resting place was a family plot in a rural area of the city.

[3] On Wednesday, June 5, 1929, Jessie De Priest received a handwritten invitation requesting her attendance at a traditional tea hosted by First Lady Lou Hoover for the spouses of Congressmen.

[3] Hoover chose to deliver the invitation to De Priest in secrecy so close to the event date to avoid boycotting of the four earlier scheduled Congressional teas by Southerners angry with the presence of a Black woman in the White House.

The guest list for the tea at which De Priest was eventually present was carefully vetted to ensure each of the 14 other women would not create a scene over socializing with a Black woman.

One critical letter to the president says: "Just because the Republican Party is in power does not make it right to attempt to force such an abhorrently low standard of social appraisement of our [White] race down our throats."

A citizen with an opposing view wrote, "The reception of Mrs. Oscar De Priest, at the White House by Mrs. Hoover, is a great victory for the principles, of social, and political equality of all races, upon which this nation was founded."

Democratic Senators Simmons and Overman of North Carolina called the event unfortunate and stressed that it was a threat to social stability and approval in the Southern United States.

[3] Black people throughout the U.S. celebrated the tea at the White House as a victory and African American-run news outlets published articles promoting the story of De Priest's attendance.

[17] Oscar De Priest capitalized on the publicity as well, hosting a successful fundraiser for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The Chicago Tribune published an article on July 17, 1929, recounting De Priest's sharing her experience with a group of 300 women in the Pilgrim Baptist Church.

The club considered revising their bylaws to refuse access to Jessie De Priest, but eventually decided against the change when faced with "national scrutiny".

[19] The final resting site of Jessie De Priest is a grave in Graceland Cemetery located in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

He was designated the administrator of the National Historic Monument and referred to the political documents found in a locked safe as a "veritable treasure trove".