Philly Museum Gets Hairy With the Presidents

This election cycle, (would-be) presidential hair is getting a lot of press attention. Who can think of Donald Trump without his oh-so-mockable comb-over, or of Hillary Clinton without her meticulously-shellacked coif of Woman Power? On the other hand, nobody says much about President Obama’s locks – probably because he keeps his hair closely cropped. That hasn’t always been the case for presidents who, in past years, have shown off their personalities via their follicular style.

George Washington is just one president whose hair will be on display at the exhibit.

Such is the focus of a new exhibit at The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, where presidential hair is front and center. The exhibit, entitled “Presidential Archives: Letters, Hair and Fossils,” runs through July 29th and coincides with Philadelphia’s hosting of the Democratic National Convention. Ever seen curious to see what George Washington’s hair looked like? You can see it here, along with the tresses of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.

The specimens were the belongings of a long-dead Philadelphia lawyer, who willed his collection to the Drexel museum after his death in 1860. They are now being put on display so that the general public can get a look at the crowning glory of some of America’s forefathers.

Wonder what historians were doing preserving the presidents’ hair in the first place? It sounds creepy by modern standards, but keep in mind that collecting locks of hair from friends and relatives was a common practice as late in American history as the Victorian era. Locks were preserved as keepsakes and often coiled into lockets or other types of jewelry like broaches or pins.