One of the more idiosyncratic collections stored in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University is a sampling of locks of hair from past presidents. The collection underwent some growth recently when it acquired another lock, this time belonging to former President Jimmy Carter. The presidential samples in the Academy’s collection run from George Washington to Millard Fillmore, including hair from each of the first 13 American presidents.
Robert M. Peck, a senior fellow at the Academy, wrote to each of the living presidents asking if they would contribute to the display, and Carter obliged, sending a zipped bag with a cluster of half-inch clippings.
“Since returning home from the White House, I have kept it cut quite short,” Carter wrote in a letter sent with the hair. “I did not anticipate growing longer locks for display in a museum!”