The Hungerford Deed
Sidedoor
Smithsonian Institution
4.6 • 2.3K Ratings
🗓️ 17 August 2023
⏱️ 30 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
When a 200-year-old legal document anonymously arrived at his office, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives conservator William Bennett assumed it would be full of boring legal jargon. Instead, he found a juicy tale of family betrayal that would forever change what we thought we knew about the founding of the Smithsonian. In honor of the Smithsonian’s 177th birthday, we’re sharing one of our favorite stories from the Sidedoor collection.
Guests:
William Bennett, conservator at the Smithsonian Institution Libraries and Archives
Social: @rwilliab (Instagram), @SirWilliamB (Twitter)
Heather Ewing, author of The Lost World of James Smithson, and Associate Dean at New York Studio School
Social: @HPealeEwing
Richard Kurin, Smithsonian Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey there's Side Door Bowls. So a little while ago, I was out for my regular evening run, |
| 0:05.0 | which usually takes me along the National Mall. And on the way back, I pass in front of the |
| 0:09.5 | Smithsonian Castle, the turreted red brick building on the mall that was home to the |
| 0:14.0 | first secretary of the Smithsonian. Now, one thing you should know before I go any further is that |
| 0:18.8 | D.C. in summer is flooded with tourists, |
| 0:22.5 | often traveling in fleets of segways, scooters, and bicycles. |
| 0:26.9 | And these tours are lovely, but you kind of have to watch where you're going or you might get run over. |
| 0:31.0 | Anyway, on this particular evening, there happened to be a biking tour stopped in front of the Smithsonian Castle. |
| 0:37.2 | And I was really curious about what the tour guide was going to say about the castle. So I stopped and I pretended to sort of stretch in the grass so that I could eavesdrop. And the tour guide said some nice things about the founding of the Smithsonian as the National Museum and its mission today. But I did not hear a single thing about the crypt |
| 0:55.9 | in the castle or the person in the crypt and why he's there. So I did the thing you're not |
| 1:05.1 | supposed to do. I, this random lady in jogging shorts, I raised my hand and I asked if I could add something. |
| 1:13.6 | And then I launched into one of my favorite Smithsonian stories ever. |
| 1:18.6 | The one that I cannot believe more people don't know because it is so full of drama. |
| 1:23.6 | And as I told the story, I was gesticulating for emphasis and the bikers were all leaning in to hear what I was saying. |
| 1:30.3 | And after my five-minute guerrilla-style soliloquy, the entire group of bikers broke into applause. |
| 1:36.3 | And I turned and I ran away down the mall feeling like a hero and also thinking, I cannot believe I just did that. |
| 1:42.3 | And so, with apologies to that eminently patient, thinking, I cannot believe I just did that. |
| 1:50.8 | And so, with apologies to that eminently patient tour guide, I want to share that story with you now, the one that even the people who walk by the castle every day don't know. |
| 1:56.2 | The one that begins with a mysterious document and ends with a body nobody quite knows what to do with. |
| 2:03.8 | In honor of the Smithsonian's 177th birthday, enjoy. |
| 2:22.5 | This is Side Door, a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX. |
| 2:23.6 | I'm Lizzie Peabody. |
... |
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