This photograph of President Joseph R. Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden at the White House Easter Egg Roll was taken by Tony Powell on April 18, 2022. The 2022 Easter Egg Roll was hosted by President and Dr. Biden, with the first couple welcoming guests from the South Portico. It marked the first Easter Egg Roll held in person on the the South Grounds of the White House since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Activities at the annual celebration included the traditional Easter egg roll and egg hunt, special guest readers in the reading nook, costumed characters, food, and arts and crafts, among others activities.

This photograph of President Joseph R. Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden was taken by Tony Powell at the White House Easter Egg Roll on April 18, 2022. Joining the first couple on stage at the reading nook is late-night talk show host Jimmy Fallon, who read his book, "Nana Loves You More." The 2022 Easter Egg Roll was hosted by President and Dr. Biden and was the first held in person on the the South Grounds of the White House since 2019, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Activities at the annual celebration included the traditional Easter egg roll and egg hunt, special guest readers in the reading nook, costumed characters, food, and arts and crafts, among others activities.

This photograph of First Lady Pat Nixon was taken on December 11, 1972. Mrs. Nixon is seen standing in the Cross Hall among holiday decorations, including a poinsettia tree, floral designs draped around the chandelier, and red cloth covered columns. The Cross Hall, which is located on the State Floor of the White House, runs the length of the Executive Mansion and offers views of the East, Red, Green, and Blue Rooms.

In this photograph, First Lady Pat Nixon gives a tour of holiday decorations to the White House Press Corps in the State Dining Room. On display nearby is a German A-frame gingerbread house, designed by assistant executive chef Hans Raffert. Raffert created his first A-frame gingerbread house for First Lady Pat Nixon in 1969, where they soon evolved into a beloved holiday tradition.

This photograph of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier with the White House gingerbread house was taken in December 1999. Chef Mesnier and his team created gingerbread versions of the White House, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, and Mount Vernon. The scene also included the Potomac river winding through the display. The theme chosen for 1999 was "Saving America's Treasures," highlighting Mrs. Clinton's program to help preserve important landmarks and historic artifacts.

This photograph of Lyndon B. Johnson and his family at their home was taken on August 28, 1948, on the day of the Texas Senatorial Democratic primary runoff election. Johnson narrowly defeated Texas Governor Coke Stevenson in the contested primary, and went on to win the Senate seat on November 2, 1948. Pictured here from left to right: Lynda Bird Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson, Luci Baines Johnson, and Lyndon B. Johnson.

In this photograph, President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter dance in the East Room during the Congressional Christmas Ball on December 11, 1979. For decades, first families have hosted annual balls for members of Congress during the holiday season.

This black-and-white photograph, shows Governor-General William H. Taft at his desk in his office in the Philippines. Taft was sent to the Philippines at the request of President William McKinley in 1900, where he was tasked with overseeing the establishment of a civilian government for the new protectorate following its annexation to the United States as a result from the Spanish American War. Sympathetic towards and popular with the Filipino people, Taft governed the islands until he was summoned by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 to serve as his Secretary of War.

This photograph was taken on December 9, 1991 during a press preview hosted by First Lady Barbara Bush of the White House holiday decorations. That year, Mrs. Bush's holiday theme drew inspiration from the a needlepoint creche created by the Saintly Stitchers, a needlepoint group of the St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas. For her holiday decorations, over 1,300 needlepoint ornaments were created for the holiday decorations with patterns designed by White House Chief Floral Designer Nancy Clarke. Here, Mrs. Bush points towards ornaments based on the classic storybook characters "Raggedy Ann" and "Raggedy Andy," which she personally stitched for the Blue Room Christmas Tree.

In this photograph, President George H. W. Bush participates in a ceremonial wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day 1991. Since 1921, presidents have paid their respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, often in observance of military commemorations including Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

This photograph is of Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Taylor's portrait. She was the youngest daughter of President Zachary Taylor. Betty served as White House hostess in place of her mother, Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor, who was reluctant to go into society and plagued by ill health during her time as the first lady. At the time of her father's presidency, Betty was formally known as Mary Elizabeth Taylor Bliss but was later known as Mary Elizabeth Taylor Dandridge after the death of her first husband and her subsequent remarriage.

This photograph shows a close-up of the gingerbread house created by White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier and the White House pastry team for the 1995 holiday season. The gingerbread house was modeled after First Lady Hillary Rodham's Clinton's childhood home in Park Ridge, Illinois, and included scenes that paid homage to the poem "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." This was the first time Mesier employed the technique of removing portions of the wall to insert interior scenes in the White House Gingerbread House.

This portrait of Jane Irwin Harrison by an unknown artist was completed c. 1841–42. Jane Findlay Irwin Harrison served as the official White House hostess briefly in 1841, during father-in-law President William Henry Harrison’s administration. She had lived with her in-laws following the death of her husband, William Henry Harrison Jr., and accompanied the president-elect to Washington, D.C. There, she received glowing reviews for the two receptions that she hosted with the help of her aunt, Jane Irwin Findlay. Her time as de-facto first lady was cut short, however, when President Harrison died on April 4, 1841, after only a month in office. With flowers placed at each ear and a veil pulled back from her face, this portrait was probably made to celebrate Jane Harrison’s second marriage, to widower Lewis Whiteman, following her return to North Bend, Ohio. Just a few years later, she succumbed to tuberculosis at age 42.

This is a portrait of First Lady Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison, dressed in mourning was painted by an unknown artist, ca. 1820. Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison was married to President William Henry Harrison and was the grandmother of President Benjamin Harrison. Mrs. Harrison was 65 years old when her husband was elected president making her, at the time, the oldest woman to become first lady. When President Harrison was inaugurated in March of 1841, Mrs. Harrison remained in Ohio due to poor health. She had temporarily placed her widowed daughter-in-law Jane Irwin Harrison in charge of being the hostess. Mrs. Harrison did not recover in time to reside in the White House before President Harrison passed away a month after his inauguration.

This black-and-white photographic portrait of Margaret Woodrow Wilson was taken around October 1, 1912. Margaret Woodrow Wilson was the eldest of President Woodrow Wilson’s three daughters, born in Georgia on April 16, 1886. In 1913, the Wilsons moved into the White House, but Margaret’s mother and first lady, Ellen Axson Wilson, passed away the next year. Margaret stepped in as White House hostess until her father married Edith Bolling Galt in 1915. Later in life, Margaret Wilson made a spiritual journey to India and lived in an ashram until her death in 1944.

This photograph shows a bûche de Noël or Yule log cake made by White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. The traditional and festive holiday cake was a favorite at White House Christmas parties. The cake pictured here consists of a rolled sponge roulade cake covered in dark buttercream and decorated with meringue mushrooms and marzipan details to resemble a tree log adorned with holiday figures including a snowman and Santa Claus.

In this photograph, White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier prepares a bûche de Noël or Yule log cake in the White House Kitchen. The traditional holiday cake was a favorite at White House Christmas parties. Here, Chef Mesnier applies a layer of coffee buttercream to give the dessert its distinctive tree bark appearance. Mesnier joined the White House Kitchen in 1979 and retired in 2004.

This photograph shows several bûche de Noël or Yule log cakes prepared by Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier and the White House pastry team during a private event for friends and family during the George H. W. Bush administration. The desserts were made from a chocolate soufflé roulade and topped with marzipan decorations suggestive of a winter woodland scene. Mesnier's bûche de noël cakes were a favorite dessert at many White House Christmas parties. Mesnier joined the White House Kitchen in 1979 and retired in 2004.

In this photograph, taken on December 7, 1992, First Lady Barbara Bush poses with White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier and assistant pastry chef Franette McCulloch in front of the White House Gingerbread House in the State Dining Room. This was the first year Mesnier oversaw the creation of the gingerbread house. Mesnier diverted from the style of his predecessor, Hans Raffert, whose traditional A-frame gingerbread houses had been a staple of White House holiday celebrations since 1969. Instead, Mesnier and his pastry team constructed a winter village scene for the gingerbread display, complete with sledding marzipan elves.

This photograph shows the 1996 Official White House Gingerbread House on display in the State Dining Room. Designed by White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier, the gingerbread house paid homage to first daughter Chelsea Clinton's love of ballet and participation in the Washington Ballet's production of Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. The interior of the house featured a display depicting the Christmas party from the first act of the ballet, with Chelsea in attendance.

This photograph shows the Official White House Gingerbread House on display in the State Dining Room for the 2003 holiday season. To complement First Lady Laura Welch Bush's holiday theme "A Season of Stories," the gingerbread White House was populated with characters from classic children's stories, including the Cat in the Hat, Humpty Dumpty, the Very Hungry Caterpillar, Anne of Green Gables, and the Mad Hatter.

This photograph shows the Official White House Gingerbread House on display in the State Dining Room for the 2002 holiday season. To complement First Lady Laura Welch Bush's holiday theme "All Creatures Great and Small," the gingerbread White House was populated with marzipan animals representing current and former presidential pets.

This photograph shows staff members from the White House Pastry Shop posing in the East Room with a handmade chocolate eagle and a dessert buffet they prepared for the 2002 White House holiday season. The room is decorated for the season with multiple Christmas trees and an 18th century crèche, visible in the background. The 3-foot tall chocolate eagle was designed to complement First Lady Laura Welch Bush's "All Creatures Great and Small" holiday theme, but was so well received that sculpted chocolate eagles by the pastry shop became a tradition for the remainder of the George W. Bush administration. Pictured here from left to right: Jessie Betts, Noree Hathaway, Lindsay Michel, Susan "Susie" E. Morrison, Lynn McCartin, Marlene Roudebush, Roland Mesnier, Susan Limb, Patrick Musel, Donna Cellere, and Patty Stimmel.

In this photograph, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter greets White House Kitchen staff members in the Ground Floor Corridor during a visit to the White House in 1989. Here, she shakes hands with White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier, who she hired to serve as pastry chef for the White House in 1979. Pictured at left of Messier is White House Executive Chef Hans Raffert. Raffert began his career in the White House Kitchen as assistant executive chef in 1969. In 1988, he became the first member of the White House Kitchen staff to be promoted to the position of White House Executive Chef.

In this photograph, White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier and Assistant Pastry Chef Marlene Roudebush create confectionary decorations in the Kitchen for the holiday season at the White House. As Mesnier blows sugar balls, Roudebush crafts marzipan figures. Mesnier led the White House pastry shop in creating hundreds of marzipan figures each year to populate the official White House Gingerbread House and lend a festive garnish to other holiday delicacies.