The Disowned British Noble Who Founded the Smithsonian—After His Death
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 17 March 2025
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, James Smithson was never accepted by his father, the Duke of Northumberland. He never married, had no children, and spent his life studying minerals—but his parting gift to the world upon his death was to a country he never set foot in or even spoke about during his lifetime. Wyatt Hensley, a history education major at Pittsburgh University and a two-time winner of Constituting America’s We the Future contest, tells the remarkable story of the outcast who created America’s premier museum, which now bears his name.
We’d like to thank Constituting America for sharing this wonderful tale with us.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Prohibition is synonymous with speak-esies, jazz, flappers, and of course, failure. |
| 0:05.8 | I'm Ed Helms, and on season three of my podcast, Snafu, there's a story I couldn't wait to tell you. |
| 0:11.2 | It's about an unlikely duo in the 1920s who tried to warn the public that Prohibition was going to backfire so badly. |
| 0:18.3 | It just might leave thousands dead from poison. Listen and subscribe to |
| 0:23.5 | Snapoo on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:31.6 | In Mississippi, Yazoo Clay keeps secrets. Seven thousand bodies out there or more. |
| 0:39.2 | A forgotten asylum cemetery. |
| 0:41.3 | It was my family's mystery. |
| 0:43.6 | Shame, guilt, propriety, something keeps it all buried deep until it's not. |
| 0:50.9 | I'm Larison Campbell, and this is under Yazoo Clay. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. |
| 1:00.5 | Have you ever wondered if your pet is lying to you? Why is my cat not here? And I go in and she's eating my lunch. |
| 1:06.1 | Or if hypnotism is real? You will use the suggestion in order to enhance your cognitive control. |
| 1:11.3 | But what's inside a black hole? |
| 1:13.0 | Black holes could be a consequence of the way that we understand the universe. |
| 1:16.3 | Well, we have answers for you in the new IHeart original podcast, Science Stuff. |
| 1:20.6 | Join me, or Hitcham, as we answer questions about animals, space, our brains, and our bodies. |
| 1:25.9 | So give yourself permission to be a science geek and listen to |
| 1:29.0 | Science Stuff on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. |
| 1:34.0 | Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of IHeartMedia. I'm excited to share my podcast with you, |
| 1:39.8 | math and magic, stories from the frontiers of marketing. Make sure to check out my recent episode with legendary musician and philanthropist, Jewel. |
| 1:47.4 | I didn't want a million dollars. I wanted a career. I wanted a way to figure out how to do |
| 1:52.6 | something that I loved for the rest of my life. |
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