Luke's First Trip to the White House

We were very fortunate to be given tickets to the 133rd annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House yesterday. Even though he's too small to do much egg rolling, we still had a great time!

And now for a little history...

The Easter Egg Roll is a White House tradition dating back to 1878 and President Rutherford B. Hayes, but there are records of informal egg rolling events as early as Abraham Lincoln’s administration.

After the Civil War, egg rolling often took place on the Capitol building’s grounds. But by 1876, Congressmen grew tired of the torn up grounds and rowdy crowds and passed a law prohibiting the use of the Capitol Grounds as a play area.

On Easter day in 1878, when the ban on egg rolling at the Capitol went into effect, some claim that President Hayes saw tearful children while riding by the Capitol Grounds in his carriage and invited them to play on the White House lawn.

By 1899, the White House Easter Egg Roll had become quite popular, with over 8,000 people in attendance.

This year, over 30,000 were invited to attend the event.

The Easter Egg Roll has been held at the White House every year except during World War I, World War II and the Truman Renovation of the White House, when it was moved to other Washington locations or canceled.

President Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon were the first to include the White House Easter Bunny in the festivities.

And just in case you were wondering....First Lady Grace Coolidge was known for her love of pets, but none were more famous than her pet raccoon, Rebecca, who made an appearance at the White House Easter Egg Roll in the 1920’s.