by Frances Stanford

Created on: February 05, 2010

Rolling eggs on the South Lawn of the White House has become the tradition in Washington D.C, every Easter Monday. Children from all over the city and beyond descend on the grounds to take part in all the fun and festivities. Just when and how did this tradition get started?

Dolly Madison, the wife of President James Madison, was the first one to invite the children to decorate eggs and participate in an egg roll on the lawn of the Capitol on Easter Monday of that year. This happened in 1841 and thus started an annual event. For thirty years or more, the Capitol was taken over by children on this one day of the year in events that were well attended by families making it the family event of the season.

In the 1870’s there were so many children in attendance that a great deal of damage was done to the grounds. This resulted in the need for a new lawn in 1876 and Congress decreed that due to this expense this location was not to be used for egg rolling. In fact the lawn of the Capitol Building was declared off-limits to children. There were no incidents on Easter Monday of 1877 because of the poor weather, which necessitated another venue for the festivities.

By Easter Monday of 1878, everyone in Washington knew that they would not be permitted to roll any eggs on the lawn of the Capitol. The president at this time was Rutherford B. Hayes. He was accustomed to taking morning walks on the grounds. As he was walking on Easter Saturday, a group of children approached him and asked if it would be possible for them to hold their annual egg roll on the South lawn. Since President Hayes was new to the office and to Washington he was not really familiar with what the children were talking about. He gave his permission, not realizing what the event actually entailed.

He asked his staff about the event and then issued an order that any children who showed up on Easter Monday were to be allowed onto the grounds. When it was discovered that some children were being turned away and the President found out about it, he and his wife officially opened the grounds to the children. Ever since then the event has taken place at this venue and has only been cancelled on rare occasions, such as during the world wars and due to inclement weather.

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