April 16, 2025
Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry writes more about some of the many ways our ancestors celebrated springtime and Easter. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.
Today I will continue with a second part on how America celebrates Spring and the Easter holiday. Customs and traditions vary, but one cannot help feeling the joy in these celebrations no matter what year they took place!
1902: Easter Vanguard- — Expect One of the Best Seasons in Atlantic City!
In 1902 a feature article had photographs of “Little ones” enjoying Lenten amusements on Atlantic City Boulevard, New Jersey – such as pony rides, one of the many entertainment activities provided for children while the adults stroll along the sea in their Easter finest.
Many visitors were from the “smart set” and upper echelon. A few named in this story are: Councilman David Phillips; Mrs. John Baird, wife of a well-known Princeton athlete; former Postmaster William Wilkins Carr; and Abner McKinley, brother of the slain president.
The Library of Congress has video from Easter in 1904 Atlantic City.
1920s: Easter Egg Roll & Hunt at the White House
Easter eggs have been rolled at the U.S. Capitol and the White House since before the Civil War, though not every year. Children played games and rolled brilliantly dyed hard-boiled eggs down the terraced lawns.
Egg rolling and egg hunts became an annual tradition at the White House in 1878. Sinc then, American presidents and their families have celebrated Easter Monday by hosting an “egg roll” party. Held on the South Lawn, it is one of the oldest annual events in White House history.
1939: Little Boy Wins Large Rabbit Easter Basket
On 4 April 1939, at Miller Park, Bloomington, Illinois, the American Legion for wartime veterans hosted an Easter egg hunt. Below is a photo of Legionnaire Clarence Hensel holding the winner of the rabbit Easter basket: Delmar Clark.
The American Legion has been hosting Easter egg hunts across the country for years, and you can read more about them at the links listed at the end of this article.
1943: SPARS, WAVES & WAC: Easter Fun, Beauty and Brains
In 1943 the Atlanta Journal featured ladies of service to their country celebrating Easter.
The photo caption on the left reads:
The SPARS and the WAVES don their summer dress whites for Easter. Priscilla Metcalfe, SPARS (Coast Guard’s Women’s Reserve), left, and Frances Groverman, WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), seem happy and very proud of their new summer regulation uniforms, as the photographer snaps them leaving St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.
The photo caption in the middle reads:
A memorial cross of Easter Lilies is becoming traditional at Druid Hills Presbyterian Church. Over 50 memorial pots of lilies form this huge cross, many of which honor boys in the service. The church will be open Sunday afternoon for all those who wish to see and feel the inspiration of this beautiful symbol of the Easter season.
The photo caption on the right reads:
They’re captains now! The WAC (Women’s Army Corps) will enliven the spring parade this year in their trim khaki. This trio has a special reason to rejoice at this Easter, for they all three have just been promoted to captains. Left to right they are: Captains Elizabeth MacDonald, Lorene Wolcott, and Virginia Martin.
1946: The Proudest ‘Sailors’ in the Easter Parade!
The photo caption reads:
There just never were two such snappy sailor suits as Bobby Kline, 2, and his brother Billy will wear this year in the Boston Easter parade. The boys are mighty proud because you see the suits were made from a discarded unform of their dad. Billy (left), all spruced up, watches as mother, Mrs. William R. Kline, slicks Bobby’s hair in an Easter preview.
1954: Easter Ball for Teenagers Held by American Legion
The photo below is from the scrapbook collection donated to the Provincetown (Massachusetts) Public Library by Morris Light Post 71 American Legion Commander Carl M. Sawyer.
This photo caption reads:
Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, American Legion Auxiliary president, is shown crowning Versie Langley, Queen, and Raymond Roderick, committee member, crowning Ronald Lopes, King, at the Easter Ball for teenagers held at the Legion Hall last week. Also shown are the runner-ups, Patricia Malaquias and Ronald Motta.
1964: Miss Easter Seal ‘Flippered Her Lid!’
The photo caption reads:
“Flippered” her lid. One of the “girls” boosting the 1964 Easter Seal Society campaign, which concludes March 29, has the built-in fur coat; but alas, no Easter bonnet. Offering some to Miss Easter Seal (she barked approval from Woodland Park Zoo) were Mrs. Ronald R. Cline, left, and Mrs. Richard K. Hall, members of the Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority Alumnae. The group will sponsor a fashion show to benefit the society April 16, in the University of Washinton Chapter House.
1970: 9½ Million Easter Seals to Raise Funds!
In 1970 the Dallas Morning News reported a campaign to sell 91/2 million Easter Seals to raise $190,000 to help disabled children. The official poster girl, Romy Schnieder of Lancaster, oversaw the activities of the volunteers. Her photo was featured with Easter Seal Ambassador Robert Young, the actor who played the famous Dr. Welby on TV.
2015: Hats Off! Mad Hatters Sport the Age-Old Tradition of Easter Bonnets!
In 2015 the New York Post featured a smashing photo of six dames of the New York society circuit sporting stylish Easter hats on the steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
In this photo, meet the “women of a certain age” – a 71-year-old artist-milliner (Carol Markel) and her five friends, who only go by their first name (left to right): Cigmond, Xtine, Lynn, Valerie, Carol Markel, and Jean.
The six friends will wear these hats again for the annual Easter Bonnet Parade and Festival, which hundreds participate in – usually in a carnivalesque-type Reveler Hat one would see at Mardi Gras, but these gals prefer style and class.
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Note on the header image: “Puck” magazine, 26 March 1902. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
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