I hope everyone had a good night’s sleep after this year’s maximum food, minimal exercise, isolation Easter.
Ordinarily, I make it a practice never to mention the White House here, if I can help it, but in the interest of music, let us consider the longstanding tradition of Easter Monday and the White House Egg Roll.
In this case, “Egg Roll” has nothing at all to do with the deep-fried Chinese appetizer (that’s so, so good with hot mustard sauce), but rather the custom, officially instituted by Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878, of springtime celebrations held on the west grounds of the U.S. Capitol. It’s said that similar parties had been held, informally, during the time of the Lincoln administration. Such gatherings were banned, however, under Ulysses S. Grant, because of their destructive impact on the landscaping.
Children began showing up at the White House gate, and it’s said that President Hayes allowed them in on Easter Monday to continue their deleterious capers. It was Benjamin Harrison who enlisted the participation of the United States Marine Band. Except for two world wars and restoration efforts, which temporarily suspended festivities on the White House lawn, the tradition has continued down to the present day.
It hardly need be said, even if it weren’t for the torrential rain this morning, this year’s Easter Monday Egg Roll has been cancelled on account of worldwide COVID-19 concerns. Here’s hoping that next year we can again get back to this most ludicrous custom.
For now, we can still enjoy the music. Here is John Philip Sousa’s “Easter Monday on the White House Lawn,” performed by the United States Marine Band:
Another piece of music appropriate for the day is Thomas Kerr’s “Easter Monday Swagger.” Kerr, who was born in Baltimore, studied at Howard University (he would have preferred the Peabody Conservatory, but black students were not admitted at that time), then the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. Kerr later taught at Knoxville University, before returning to Howard, where he served for more than 30 years, until his retirement in 1976.
“Easter Monday Swagger” was recorded by Natalie Hinderas, professor of music at Temple University from 1966 to 1987. In 1971, Hinderas became the first black woman to appear as an instrumental soloist on a regular subscription series of a major symphony orchestra – the Philadelphia Orchestra – when she performed Alberto Ginastera’s Piano Concerto No. 1. This opened the floodgates. After that she received offers from the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Atlanta Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Her landmark two-record set, “Natalie Hinderas Plays Music by Black Composers,” was released around the time of her Philadelphia Orchestra debut.
Thomas Kerr’s “Easter Monday Swagger”:
