How spring tradition began in 1878

Since President Rutherford B. Hayes first invited children to egg-roll on lawn, the cherished springtime event has become one of the longest held traditions at the White House.

Dating back to 1878, the Easter Egg Roll came to be shortly after Congress voted to restrict public use of the U.S. Capitol grounds. Washingtonians had traditionally to rolled brightly dyed hard-boiled eggs down the lawn with spoons to celebrate Easter Monday, according to the White House Historical Association. 

Members of Congress who were fearful of yearly landscape damage caused by participants passed the bill to restrict access on April 29, 1876, and effectively banned future egg rolling at the Capitol. 

However, two years later, a group of children lobbied President Hayes to allow them to play their egg-rolling games on the White House’s lawn, and thus began the tradition that still exists today.