The Curse of the Hope Diamond

Sidedoor

Smithsonian Institution

African American History And Culture, Tony Cohn, Natural History, Air And Space, Society & Culture, Art19, Smithsonian, Science, Sidedoor, History Of The World, The Smithsonian, Pop Culture, Zoo, Dc, National Museum, Exhibit, History, National Zoo, American History, Exhibits, Postal Museum, Washington, Museum

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2018

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Hope Diamond is one of the most iconic items in the Smithsonian's collections, but this glittering gem is rumored to have a dark side. French monarchs, an heiress, and at least one unlucky postman have met misfortune after possessing it—though does that really constitute a curse? This time on Sidedoor, we track the lore of this notorious gem through the centuries, from southern India, through the French Revolution, and across the Atlantic Ocean to its current home at the National Museum of Natural History, to find out for ourselves.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Sidor, a podgast from a Smithsonian with support from PRX.
0:13.4	I'm Tony Cohn.
0:17.8	On November 10, 1958, James Todd rolled into work a few minutes later than he might have liked.
0:24.0	He picked up a special delivery at Washington, D.C.'s main post office next to Union Station.
0:29.6	With just a few minutes before it had to be delivered, Todd hustled the package to his car.
0:34.8	From the outside, the only unusual thing about the package was the 18 postal stamps,
0:39.2	worth $9 each.
0:41.2	Out of that, only $2.44 was for the postage. The rest was for a million dollars worth of insurance.
0:49.0	That's Nancy Pope, curator at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum.
0:54.4	When Todd arrived at its destination, the National Museum of Natural History, reporters and
0:58.9	TV cameras were standing by.
1:01.0	So was the head of the Smithsonian Smithsonian and the Postmaster General.
1:04.4	It could have also been that the object he was carrying was long rumored to be cursed.
1:09.8	But the packages contents were undisturbed from its journey from New York to its new home at the Smithsonian. Inside the box, the legendary Hope Diamond, a priceless historic artifact and a huge stone that's about 45 times the size of one commonly found on a wedding ring.
1:26.2	And things have gone smoothly in the Hope Diamond's delivery. Todd went back to work.
1:31.4	As far as he was concerned, his 15 seconds of fame were over.
1:35.7	I'm sure he figured that in the movie version of the Hope Diamond story,
1:38.6	he'd be like a bit actor, unnamed mailman number one. But then the accident started.
1:45.0	When his leg was crushed by a truck,
1:51.0	just bad luck, probably. But then his wife died. And his grief did the
1:56.7	hope diamond and its curse cross his mind. Then his dog died.
2:03.0	Surely the curse must have occurred to him.
	...

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