Traditional White House Egg Roll

Every year, the White House holds the traditional White House Egg Roll on the Monday after Easter. The Egg Roll tradition on the White House lawn was first started in 1878 by First Lady Lucy Hayes, wife of President Rutherford Hayes. It was started for the children on the White House lawn, but it was First Lady, Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison, who had initially had the idea of a pubic egg roll during her husband's presidency between 1809 and 1817.

In the beginning, the White House Egg Roll was just as the name says. It was a chance for kids to put to use the Easter eggs that they found. As time went on, little changes were made. The event started on Capitol Hill, but because of unpleased Congressmen, the Turf Protection Law was passed, stating that Capitol Hill could not be "used as a playground." The event was rained out the next year, and the year after, the law was enforced. Egg rollers were no allowed on the lawn of Capitol Hill. This lead future egg rollers to question if they would get to have the celebration anymore. President Hayes was approached on his daily walk one day about the issue, but he was unfamiliar with the activities. Once informed, he stated that anyone who showed up to the White House for an egg roll would be allowed to participate. Once moved to the White House the kids quickly took to the rolling hills on the White House lawn - rolling both, their colorful eggs and themselves around in the grass.

Since the year that President Hayes opened up the White House lawn for the Egg Roll, all succeeding presidents have kept up with the tradition. The Egg Roll has changed throughout the years, however. Games, such as "Egg Picking," "Egg Ball," Toss and Catch," and "Egg Croquet" have been incorporated into the Egg Rolling activities every Monday after Easter Sunday. While the participants get to spend the day has fun participating in the festivities and meeting the President and First Lady and the official White House Easter Bunny (as well as any other celebrity that shows up), they don't leave empty handed. Each participant gets to leave with a wooden egg at the end of the day, signed by the President and the First Lady as a souvenir of the events.

The White House Egg Roll is one of the oldest White House traditions. It is mostly associated with children, though adults can have fun with the festivities as well.