April 3, 2026
Introduction: In this article – to help celebrate Easter this Sunday – Melissa Davenport Berry shows more photos of our ancestors celebrating the holiday. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.
Today I continue with more photographs from Easter Days gone by, using GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives and special collections from the web.
Photo credit: https://depositphotos.com/home.html
1910: Rucker Family and Friends, Easter Picnic at Flat Rock, Green County, Georgia
In this photo we see: (standing in the back) James Brown Rucker; (seated in the middle, left to right) Uncle William Rucker; James Wesley Rucker with Janie Rucker, daughter, leaning on his right knee and Elsie Ruark, niece of the Moore sisters, leaning on his left knee; Nellie Moore; Bonnie Moore; (kneeling in the front row, left to right) Charlotte (Lottie) Rucker; Corine Rucker. Not in photo: Carrie (Harper) Rucker, wife of James Wesley Rucker and mother of James Brown, Charlotte, and Corine Rucker.
1919: Easter Bouquets from Nantucket Fields
This is Rozelle Brayton (Coleman) Jones (1901-1974), daughter of Dr. Ellenwood Bunker Coleman and May Anna (Brayton) Coleman, wife of George William Jones, carrying two beautiful Easter bouquets from Nantucket, Massachusetts, fields.
1922: White House Easter Egg Roll
The captions for these next two photos read:
(Left) It was a cosmopolitan assemblage of youngsters that gathered on the White House lawn for the annual Easter egg rolling festival. Picture shows a tiny Japanese participant and her mother.
(Right) Cheek and jaw by jaw they’re drinking soda through a straw. There were thousands of bottles of pop distributed among the little Easter egg rollers, and it vied for popularity with the gaudy tokens.
1930: White House Easter Celebration
Children dance around a maypole at the White House Easter Egg Roll.
1936: American Legion Sponsors Four Easter Egg Hunts
The captions for these next two photos read:
(Left) Despite his tender years, three-year-old Tommy Marrin, in the foreground, succeeded in tracking a golden egg to its lair in Easter egg hunt yesterday at Humphrey Calder School [Richmond, Virgina]. This was one of four hunts sponsored by American Legion. Part of huge crowd is shown.
(Right) Nell Haller, left, found the silver egg and Anne Watson, three, found the golden egg at Hotchkiss Field Hunt of American Legion yesterday. Anne looks as though the sun’s in her eyes – or something.
1943: No Time for Frills During Wartime
For many young women during World War II, Easter bonnets gave way to military caps. This next photo caption reads:
WAAC Margaret E. Murphy in her Easter bonnet, and not a frill upon it; there are 50,000 other such bonnets just like it here and abroad, but it’s still the very smartest bonnet in this year’s Easter parade.
1951: Country Club Youngsters in Easter Egg Hunt
This next photo shows a cute Easter moment between two children in Dallas, Texas. The photo caption reads:
Lamar Norsworthy can’t decide whether Dorothy Paine is giving him that Easter bunny or merely letting him look, but he plays it safe, doesn’t reach. The children will be among Brook Hollow Golf Club members’ children attending an Easter egg hunt at the club Sunday afternoon. Lamar is the son of Mr. and Mrs. C. L. Norsworthy Jr., 4304 Overhill Drive. Dorothy belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Paine, 4911 Shadywood.
1954: Triplet Brothers Get Spruced Up for Easter Parade
The next photo caption reads:
The triplet sons of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Frazier, 2705 Gaither Street, Hillcrest Heights, Md., cast suspicious eyes at the hair-cutting equipment held by the Nicholosi brothers, Al, Joe, and Sam. The triplets left to right are Gary, Gregory, and Gene.
1956: Easter Marriage Ceremony
On Easter Sunday in Dallas, Texas, in 1956, Wilson Elijah Hubbard, age 75, son of Hugh H. Hubbard and Mary Isobel (Harrison) Hubbard, wed Mrs. Gladys Josephine (Brooks) Smith, a mere 55, daughter of John Austin Brooks and Ida Brooks, and the widow of Meador Ray Smith. The photo caption reads:
A very happy bridegroom and bride are Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Hubbard, who were married here Sunday afternoon. After the wedding, their children took the newlyweds out for dinner and dancing.
1964: Church Pre-Easter Tea
The workers of Tanner Chapel AME Church in Phoenix, Arizona, sponsored a pre-Easter tea on Sunday, 15 April 1964. In this photo we see: (front row, left to right) Dorrie Parks; Ruth Vann; Elizabeth Brown; Annie Mae Ward; Helen Cobb; Ezora Davis; (back row, left to right) Maggie Robertson; Phyliss Barrett; Florence Claybrooks; Rev. George L. Grant; and Mrs. Cora Scott.
Happy Easter!
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Note on the header image: Happy Easter. Credit: https://depositphotos.com/home.html
Related Articles:
- Our Ancestors Celebrating Easter (part 1)
- Happy Days: Our Ancestors Celebrating Spring and Easter (part 1)
- Happy Days: Our Ancestors Celebrating Spring and Easter (part 2)
- Easter Fun from Yesteryear: American Legion & Other Egg Hunts (part 1)
- Easter Fun from Yesteryear: American Legion & Other Egg Hunts (part 2)