Guess what I came across today…a photograph of Dolley Madison! Yep, an actual photograph (see above)! It was taken in 1848 by Matthew Brady (of course) when she was 80 years old! How cool! How have I not seen this before?! There’s something so raw about historical photos that can’t be conveyed by paintings.
So, how did I come across this photo? I was researching James Madison for a lesson about the Constitutional Convention. I’ve taught this subject plenty of times, but I was making a new set of notes, and I wanted to double-check my facts and see if I could find out anything new. While I was reading about James Madison, I fell down a rabbit hole reading about his relationship with Dolley.
I found out so many cool things! For example:
- Dolley Madison’s first husband and one of her children died during a yellow fever epidemic. She was widowed at 25.
- Aaron Burr, the man who eventually killed Alexander Hamilton in their famous duel, introduced James Madison and Dolley. He knew Madison from college and was staying in Dolley’s mother’s boarding house.
- Dolley served as hostess for widower Thomas Jefferson when he was President. James Madison was Jefferson’s Secretary of State at the time. Dolley selected furnishings for the White House, organized parties, and entertained ladies that visited.
- Dolley was 17 years younger than Madison, but they were known to be very much in love and were married for 42 years.
I also found out things that had nothing to do with Dolley Madison but were well worth remembering. For example:
- George Washington only had one real tooth left at the time of his inauguration.
- Teddy Roosevelt was known as the smiling president. He was the first president who was documented as smiling for photographs. He was so well-known for his smile that a Teddy’s teeth whistle was created for his 1904 presidential campaign. One is on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
Almost every one of these facts would pique students’ interest or at least break the monotony of class. How did I find out these facts? By reading up on what I was teaching. Now, I know you won’t always have time to read up on everything, especially if it’s something you have taught before and feel like you already know. Sometimes we are lucky that we even made it to school with a shower and clean clothes; forget having time to read about George Washington’s teeth (or tooth).
BUT, there are those days where you spend too much time on Facebook, right? Or watch one-too-many TikToks? Or read another click-bait article? Instead of using ALL of that time for mindless entertainment, why not take a minute to Google the person you are teaching about tomorrow?
And while we are on the subject of Googling, let me mention a VERY important point. Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Ok, I know you don’t believe everything you read on the internet, BUT do you take time to fact check the bits of trivia you come across? A quick search of the Dolley Madison photo may reveal that actual photo taken of her, but you will also come across various fake photos of her and James Madison. It didn’t take me long to research and find out that John Quincy Adams was the first president ever photographed, and that was after James Madison was already dead.
If it’s not a well-known fact, verify it using several well-known sources. It typically takes less than a minute to verify something. All of the facts that I shared above were verified by either government-run websites or those run by historical societies that are reputable. And no, a person’s blog is not considered a reputable source (unless it’s mine, of course). 😉 Also, if you come across a quote from someone or about someone that seems very controversial or “off,” make sure you look at the context of the quote. People can twist quotes to suit their own political biases. We expect our students to use reputable sources for schoolwork so we should do the same.
So, next time you dread teaching the SAME lesson about the SAME person again this semester, try doing a little bit of reading. You never know when you’ll come across the one interesting fact that can grab that one student you’ve been trying to reach!