Collection The Kennedy Rose Garden
It's hard to imagine that it was something as casual as a lunch conversation between a newly elected president and...
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The primary Easter Monday entertainment at the White House has always involved egg rolling. Participants roll dyed, hard-boiled eggs across the grass to see whose will go the furthest before cracking. Other egg sports enjoyed in the early years were egg ball, toss and catch, egg croquet and egg picking—a contest where eggs are pecked together until they crack. After a few days, the odor of all the eggs broken in these free-form games "could be smelled three square miles away."
In 1929, First Lady Lou Hoover hoped to end the rotten egg stench by introducing folk dancing. Her successor, Eleanor Roosevelt, thought it better to impose a sense of structure to egg-based activities. First Lady Pat Nixon's staff arranged the only Easter egg hunt with actual eggs. Unfound eggs quickly reminded people of why Mrs. Hoover had favored folk dancing. In 1974, the Nixons hosted the egg roll races, an event which has become an Easter Monday favorite.
It's hard to imagine that it was something as casual as a lunch conversation between a newly elected president and...
Today's White House grounds are a site to behold. What started as 85 acres of land chosen by George Washington, was...
No sport is more closely tied to the American presidency than baseball. One of Washington’s first baseball fields was lo...
Since the first cherry blossom planting in 1912 by First Lady Helen Herron Taft, Washingtonians have celebrated the scenic beauty and...
Spring is a special time in our nation’s capital, when cherry blossoms bloom and the White House garden comes al...
Many people think of the White House as a symbol of democracy, but it also embodies America’s complicated past an...
Camp David has provided presidents and their families with a recreational retreat from the White House, as well as a...
While there has yet to be a female president, women have played an integral role in shaping the White House...
From diplomatic dinners to holiday gatherings, the White House has always played a central role in the nation’s official en...
Presidents have found different ways to escape the pressures and politics of the position. For early leaders, it was a...
Biographies & Portraits
Biographies & Portraits