The White House Easter Egg Roll Through the Years!

Happy Easter, for those who celebrate, from Stand By Your Ad! While Easter is certainly one of the most important Christian holidays, it has taken on a cultural place in American society. From The Easter Bunny, to Easter-egg-hunts to those amazing Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs, Americans love Easter. We thought it would be fun to celebrate Easter here at Stand By Your Ad with a brief look at the White House Easter Egg Roll!
A Brief History of the Easter Egg Roll
According to History.com, “some historians credit first lady Dolley Madison with first proposing the idea of a public egg roll around 1810, and there are accounts of informal egg rolls staged by the children of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. The 1878 event hosted by Hayes on the South Lawn, however, stands as the first official White House Easter Egg Roll.”
The White House Easter Egg Roll has been held on-and-off (cancelled due to weather, war, and other factors), since 1878, and has been enjoyed by generations of Americans for well over a century. Let’s take a look at some highlights from the video-era!
2020 Easter Egg Roll Cancelled…
The 2020 Easter Egg roll was unfortunately cancelled due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
“The health and safety of all Americans must be the first priority, especially right now,” “I deeply regret this cancellation, but we need to make difficult decisions in the short-term to ensure a healthy country for the long-term. During this time, I encourage everyone to listen to state and local officials, and follow CDC guidelines in order to help protect the health and well-being of everyone.”
First Lady Melania Trump. Click HERE to watch The First Lady perform an Easter reading of “The Little Rabbit”
In lieu of the 2020 Easter Egg Roll video, here is the White House’s official 2020 Easter message from President Trump. This is presented here in place of this year’s typical event and is not intended as a political statement, endorsement or criticism.
The White House Easter Egg Roll in Video
Thanks to the archiving of film footage by various Presidential Libraries, there are glimpses into the past of White House Easter Egg Rolls of years past. The following are some video selections highlighting the Easter Egg Rolls of previous administrations! If you know of any other footage that we have not included, please be sure to let us know! If you’d like to see a wonderful photo collection of the Easter Egg Roll through history, PBS has an excellent collection. The following are clips and snippets collectd from YouTube and C-SPAN. The list is not conclusive, but aims to highlight as many examples as we could find.

What’s your favorite Presidential White House Easter Egg Roll moment? Have you ever been involved or partaken in the event? Let us know in the comments below!