Help Kids Discover December Holiday Traditions at the White House
The December holidays provide a
perfect opportunity to help young people learn about their own history
and heritage, as well as the history, heritage, and traditions of
others.
You
can share the story of how the Christmas tree became a White House
tradition and how farmers across America compete to grow the “Grand
Champion” selected to adorn the White House each year in "Grand Champions of the White House" by guest writer Renee Critcher Lyons on OurWhiteHouse.org. Read on for an excerpt:
A tree has not always graced the White House at Christmastime. In fact, Franklin Pierce (1856), our 14th president, became the first to embrace the 500-year old tradition of bringing a tree into the home to celebrate the hope of Christmas morn. And, the practice did not become a yearly event until the 1880’s. Only one president since has frowned upon the use of an official White House Christmas tree, Teddy Roosevelt. Our 26th president (1901-1909), at a time before Christmas tree farms were prevalent, believed the harvesting of Christmas trees might deplete our national forests, and thus banned the practice from the White House.
President and Mrs. Barack Obama have continued the
tradition of hosting Hanukkah celebrations at the White House as established by previous administrations.
To read about Hanukkah traditions at the White House, visit the article titled "Hanukkah at the White House" on the White House website WhiteHouse.gov.
Discover More About the White House and American History in Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out
For
even more information and stories about White House holiday
traditions, the presidents and first ladies, and American history,
check out a copy of Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out
from your local library and share the extensive fiction and nonfiction
pieces and plethora of original art illustrations with the young
people in your life. To learn more about White House holidays, you
might choose to read how the American hostage crisis in 1979 affected
the lighting of the national Christmas tree during President Carter’s
term in office in “From Christmas in Plains: Memories” by Jimmy Carter.
Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out is sold in hardcover and paperback at bookstores everywhere. LEARN MORE about this anthology at OurWhiteHouse.org.
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| The 2013 White House Christmas Tree |
A tree has not always graced the White House at Christmastime. In fact, Franklin Pierce (1856), our 14th president, became the first to embrace the 500-year old tradition of bringing a tree into the home to celebrate the hope of Christmas morn. And, the practice did not become a yearly event until the 1880’s. Only one president since has frowned upon the use of an official White House Christmas tree, Teddy Roosevelt. Our 26th president (1901-1909), at a time before Christmas tree farms were prevalent, believed the harvesting of Christmas trees might deplete our national forests, and thus banned the practice from the White House.
 |
| President Ronald Reagan receives a menorah in the Oval Office to mark the lighting of the menorah on the Ellipse |
To read about Hanukkah traditions at the White House, visit the article titled "Hanukkah at the White House" on the White House website WhiteHouse.gov.
Discover More About the White House and American History in Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out
For
even more information and stories about White House holiday
traditions, the presidents and first ladies, and American history,
check out a copy of Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out
from your local library and share the extensive fiction and nonfiction
pieces and plethora of original art illustrations with the young
people in your life. To learn more about White House holidays, you
might choose to read how the American hostage crisis in 1979 affected
the lighting of the national Christmas tree during President Carter’s
term in office in “From Christmas in Plains: Memories” by Jimmy Carter.Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out is sold in hardcover and paperback at bookstores everywhere. LEARN MORE about this anthology at OurWhiteHouse.org.
