What do presidential pets, unusual presidential habits, forgotten family traditions, bizarre campaign stories, accidental firsts, strange White House events, and other historical curiosities reveal about the people behind the presidency? In this interactive social studies workshop, educators will step beyond the traditional presidential timeline to explore the oddities, curiosities, and trivialities of U.S. presidential and First Family history.

Structured as a Socratic Seminar, participants will examine intriguing historical anecdotes and primary sources, question commonly held assumptions, debate their significance, and consider the larger historical lessons hidden within seemingly trivial stories. The discussion will explore how presidential personalities, family life, popular culture, media, and public perception have shaped—and sometimes humanized—the American presidency.

Participants will leave with strategies for helping students become more discerning consumers and critical analysts of historical and contemporary information while developing the historical-thinking skills of sourcing, contextualization, corroboration, perspective-taking, argumentation, and evidence-based reasoning.