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By Suzanne Blake
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The Obama Presidential Center opens to the public on Friday in Chicago, kicking off a Juneteenth weekend of celebrations and marking the latest addition to the uniquely American institution of presidential libraries.
While these presidential museums are best known for preserving historic documents and moments like wars and elections, they are also filled with deeply odd artifacts from certain time periods.
From entire airplanes to spacecraft and deeply personal memorabilia, presidential libraries often double as something like a national attic, revealing quirks and unexpected moments from those who held the highest office in the land.
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Why It Matters
At first glance, the quirky artifacts at presidential libraries might seem trivial, but they play a real role in public history.
For one, they often humanize presidents beyond just their policy. But they can also reveal the cultural context of an era.
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What To Know
Presidential libraries are run under the National Archives system, but they do more than store official records.
They also house millions of personal items and gifts as well as objects tied to a president’s life before office. Some even store diplomatic gifts from foreign leaders.
The Obama center has been designed as a modern, community-focused campus rather than a traditional archive, but Newsweek compiled a list of the most surprising things already hiding in presidential collections.
The Wackiest Things in Presidential Libraries
1. An Entire Air Force One Plane
At the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, visitors can walk through a retired Boeing 707 that served as Air Force One for multiple presidents.
The aircraft carried U.S. presidents from the 1970s through 2001 and is now displayed inside a massive glass pavilion built around it. It’s arguably the most dramatic artifact in any presidential library.
“Here we highlight President Reagan’s face-to-face diplomacy with world leaders on economic relations, strategic relations and arms control as he travels on Air Force One,” the Reagan library writes on its website. “The Secret Service and their role in protecting the President while he travels displays on a gallery wall on this level.”
2. A Space Capsule From the Space Race
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library features the Freedom 7 capsule, flown by astronaut Alan Shepard in 1961, carrying the first American into space while also accelerating the U.S. moon landing eight years later.
Few museums can claim to combine Cold War politics and actual spacecraft in the same exhibit hall.
“Freedom 7’s mission was a milestone along the course charted by President Kennedy to make the United States number one in the world in space exploration,” the JFK library said on its website. “Three weeks after this capsule safely splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, President Kennedy announced to the nation the goal of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth before the end of the decade.”
3. The Crates That Carried Nixon's Pandas
After President Richard Nixon's landmark 1972 trip to China, Beijing gifted the U.S. two giant pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing. The Nixon library preserves the actual transport crates used to bring them across the Pacific.
Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing were housed at the Smithsonian National Zoo for 20 years after their arrival the same year, and the pandas were said to have five cubs, though none of them survived to adulthood.
4. Eleanor Roosevelt's Pistol Permit
At the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, one of the more unexpected items is wife Eleanor Roosevelt's pistol permit, complete with photo, signature and thumbprint.
She reportedly carried a handgun at times because she often resisted traveling with Secret Service protection.
5. FDR's Luxury Trash Can
Also at the Roosevelt Library is a wastebasket fashioned from a leather hatbox and lined with old Philadelphia municipal bonds. It was apparently a gift from a family member and became FDR's personal trash can.
According to Ranker, the interior is lined with $100 and $200 bonds from the city of Philadelphia, and there’s a brass lock at the front.
6. A Cold War Atomic Bomb Board Game
The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum displays "Atomic Bombing Care," a children's game designed to teach families about surviving nuclear attacks.
For many library visitors, it serves as a reminder of just how normalized atomic-war anxiety became during the early Cold War.
What Could Be Unusual at the Obama Center?
The Obama Presidential Center is already different from traditional libraries.
It is described as more than a library and instead operates as an immersive digital museum and community campus. It will feature art, cultural programming and public spaces.
Given that presidential libraries often include gifts received while in office, it is highly likely that the collection will include diplomatic gifts from foreign leaders and cultural artifacts from Obama-era events.
However, the full artifact list has not been publicly detailed yet.
Trump’s Future Library: A Different Kind of 'Odd'
Plans for Donald Trump’s future presidential library, which are still in development, suggest it may rival existing libraries in unusual exhibits.
Trump released a video detailing the plans, which include a replica Oval Office, a large gold statue of Trump and full-size aircraft displayed inside the building.
"It's most likely going to be a hotel with a beautiful building underneath and a 747 Air Force One in the lobby, which is going to be a trick," Trump told reporters earlier this year.
What Happens Next
Unlike traditional museums, presidential libraries continue to grow after opening as materials are processed, cataloged and released.
- The Obama center is positioned as a hybrid museum and archival space, so it will bring a digital-first approach to collections.
- That means some objects, especially gifts and personal items, may not be publicly displayed immediately.
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