{"id":65883,"date":"2021-03-29T12:05:06","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T16:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=65883"},"modified":"2023-11-20T14:31:44","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T19:31:44","slug":"a-family-tradition-easter-egg-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/a-family-tradition-easter-egg-hunt.html","title":{"rendered":"A Family Tradition: Easter Egg Hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article \u2013 in honor of Easter this upcoming Sunday \u2013 Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to learn about the tradition of the Easter egg hunt. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Does your family celebrate Easter? What will your Easter activities include this year? Will the Easter bunny be leaving some eggs in your front yard? While it\u2019s been years since my last Easter egg hunt, the memories of watching my kids search for those hidden eggs is a fond one.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
Photo: one of the author\u2019s children discovered a hidden egg during an Easter egg hunt. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Easter egg hunts are not a new tradition. Surprisingly, they have a long history and one that Americans have long enjoyed.<\/p>\n

The History of the Hunt<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hunting Easter eggs actually stems from the late 16th<\/sup> century in Germany. Even Protestant reformer Martin Luther organized Easter egg hunts for his congregation. Fast forward to the 1800s and England\u2019s Queen Victoria was a big fan of Easter Egg hunts, which she took part in as a child when her German-born mother, the Duchess of Kent, organized Easter egg hunts at Kensington Palace. She continued the tradition for her own children and even wrote about the annual event in her journals. (1)<\/p>\n

Children in the United States also enjoyed Easter egg hunts in the 19th<\/sup> century, as this 1882 newspaper article can attest. According to the article, the city\u2019s Mayor Craycroft hosted the community\u2019s children:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe eggs were beautifully colored and the happy children entered into the sport of hunting for them with a zest which none but children understand\u2026 Quite a number of grown folks were present and the bright faces and merry laughter of the children made up an enjoyable occasion.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Sedalia Weekly Bazoo (Sedalia, Missouri), 11 April 1882, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Easter Egg Hunts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Old newspapers, such as GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>, are a great place to find records of events \u2013 and a community\u2019s Easter egg hunts are no exception. I love this newspaper article from 1916 that included photos of participants and also named the women who helped with the festivities.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), 23 April 1916, page 14<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When my kids were younger, the city we lived in sponsored the annual Easter egg hunt. Historical newspaper articles document the numerous cities, churches, and membership organizations that sponsored Easter egg hunt events, including this 1928 example that was sponsored by the Women\u2019s Christian Temperance Union for children that were members of their Loyal Temperance Legion. For those who find their ancestor pictured in the group, it might be worthwhile to seek out archival collections that have more information on their activities and perhaps even provide membership lists.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 7 April 1928, page 15<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This report from 1920 included names of boys who found one of 12 \u201cgolden eggs,\u201d their age, and street address or school. The prize for finding those gold eggs was a membership or a membership extension in the YMCA.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, California), 4 April 1920, page 18<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The White House Easter Egg Roll<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some egg hunts are more well-known than others. Case in point: the White House Annual Easter Egg Roll, which was first held in 1878 during President Rutherford B. Hayes\u2019 term. This \u201cannual\u201d event has actually not been held each year. Cancellations occurred during the World War II years and right after, due to food conservation efforts, and then from 1948 to 1952 due to renovation. (2)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that the children invited to the White House Easter Egg Hunt are excited. In some years the White House has had children living there who also enjoyed the festivities. This 1933 newspaper article detailed the event with the Roosevelt grandchildren and White House residents Sistie (Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Dall Seagraves) and Buzzie (Curtis Roosevelt). The children enjoyed the antics of a magician who, predictably, pulled a rabbit out of a hat; went on an egg hunt; and took part in an indoor treasure hunt. Each child snacked on cookies and lemonade and walked away with their own Easter package.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 18 April 1933, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Easter Egg Hunts at Your House<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you hosted an Easter Egg Hunt at your house in the past? Do you remember your own searches for those colored eggs? These are great memories to add to your family history.<\/p>\n

Happy Easter!<\/p>\n

______________<\/p>\n

(1) \u201cThe History of the Hunt: How an Easter Tradition Was Hatched,\u201d Heritage England (http:\/\/blog.english-heritage.org.uk\/the-history-of-the-egg-hunt\/<\/a>: accessed 8 April 2020).
\n(2) \u201cWhat is the history of the White House Easter Egg Roll?\u201d White House History (https:\/\/www.whitehousehistory.org\/questions\/what-is-the-history-of-the-white-house-easter-egg-roll<\/a>: accessed 8 April 2020).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article \u2013 in time for Easter this Sunday \u2013 Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to learn about the tradition of the Easter egg hunt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":65905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12703],"tags":[52,57869],"class_list":["post-65883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holidays","tag-easter","tag-easter-egg-hunts"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/photo-0329-2021-featured-graphic-egg-hunt.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65883"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96029,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65883\/revisions\/96029"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}