A thick, two-inch tuft of hair clipped postmortem from the head of Abraham Lincoln was purchased by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! at auction for more than $81,000. We received a lot of questions and worked with experts in the fields of science and medicine to answer them. Watch Unlocking Lincoln Featuring Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris as Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris, medical historian, bestselling author, and host of the Smithsonian Channel’s “The Curious Life and Death Of…”, DNA expert Dr. Dean Hildebrand of the BC Institute of Technology, and John Corcoran, Ripley’s Exhibits and Traveling Shows Director, dive deeper into this exhibit’s history and answer some truly curious questions.

Find Out:

  • What makes this acquisition so special
  • Why a lock of hair would be kept postmortem
  • What we can learn from this hair
  • If DNA verification is possible
  • How this exhibit debunks one of the many Lincoln conspiracy theories
  • … and much more

Unlocking Lincoln Featuring Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris originally streamed live on Ripley’s Facebook. Follow us on social for more live programming and curious content.

Lincoln’s hair arrived at Ripley’s Warehouse on September 17, 2020.