Taking the Kids: Learning about our presidents from visiting their homes
Lucky kids!
The six children of President Theodore Roosevelt had lots of room to "scramble," as they said -- a 23-room house and 95 acres on Long Island, complete with many pets (everything from dogs, turtles, pigs, ponies, rabbits, even a badger and black bear cub), water sports and a dad who, no matter how busy, loved nothing more than playing with them.
In fact, when the Roosevelt children were at their waterfront Oyster Bay estate, named Sagamore Hill, the big gong -- anchored by huge elephant tusks -- would sound at 4 p.m., letting them know it was time for playtime with dad. Theodore Roosevelt, of course, was a larger-than-life man. Among his hunting trophies, he had everything from a Cape buffalo head to bison heads, rugs made from polar bear to zebra and mountain lion skins.
Teddy Roosevelt is also experiencing somewhat of a re-emergence, as we celebrate the centennial of the National Parks and continued conservation efforts. In his years as president, Roosevelt protected 84,000 acres a day and created five national parks and 18 national monuments. Sagamore Hill, reopened last year after a 3-1/2-year, $10 million renovation and is having a moment, too, with significantly more visitors, said Martin Christiansen, chief of Interpretation at the National Historic Site.
All around us on a recent sunny Sunday, families were picnicking outdoors, gaping at all of the wild game heads inside and walking on the nature trail down to the waterfront, as kids worked on their junior ranger badges. There was a museum history hunt, another about Theodore Roosevelt and his home, and a Bunny Ranger program for the youngest visitors.
In this primary season, as we're inundated with political insults hurled back and forth, take the opportunity to show kids the real people who have served in the Oval Office, suggests Christiansen.
"They learn that even a president is a regular person," he added. Or at least they were before moving into the White House. This house was obviously a family home with toys in the nursery and tennis balls kept in ornate china dishes in the front hall to be handy for a tennis game.
Dozens of historic sites, monuments and memorials around the country preserve the birthplaces, childhood homes and residences of our nation's presidents. Others, like Mount Vernon, George Washington's home, and Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home, are maintained privately and offer many special activities for children. (Here's what I wrote about a special family tour at Monticello last year.)
In Quincy, Massachusetts, for example, you can visit Adams National Historical Park, the birthplace and home of two presidents -- John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams, as well as four generations of their family. Nearby in Brookline, you can visit John Fitzgerald Kennedy's birthplace and first home.
Visit the Eisenhower Farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, which is adjacent to the famous battlefield where Eisenhower met with world leaders and tried to diffuse Cold War tensions (the Junior Ranger program here involves becoming a Junior Secret Service agent). In Independence, Missouri, there's the Harry S. Truman farm home (closed now but the grounds are open) where Harry Truman lived without plumbing or electricity.
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