Sidedoor: The Hungerford Deed

Every family has its fair share of drama. But few of us can say that our kin’s squabbles led to the creation of a world-renowned institution.

For the season finale of Sidedoor, we’ll leaf through the Hungerford Deed, a 235-year-old legal document that mysteriously arrived at the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives in 2019. Inside, conservators discovered the decades-long family feud that laid the groundwork for the founding of the Smithsonian.

Guests

• William Bennett – Conservator at the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives
• Heather Ewing – Associate Dean at the New York Studio School, historian, and author of a number of books on the Smithsonian, including The Lost World of James Smithson
• Richard Kurin – Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large for the Smithsonian

Listen now

Links and fun stuff

• Dig into the fine print of the Hungerford Deed and all the people, properties, and politics therein with the interactive web exhibit, A Tale of Two Sisters from the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
• The Hungerford Castle was sold to pay off debts decades before James Smithson’s birth or the legal battles surrounding the Hungerford Deed. But the castle was the site of even more family drama (mixed with a bit of murder). Tour the castle as it stands today and visit the family crypt with the Memory Seekers.
• How does one unfurl a 235-year-old parchment? Very, very carefully. Walk through the process with curator William Bennett in an installment of At Home with the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.
• James Smithson’s scientific inquiries included anything that piqued his interest; from discovering and naming a new mineral to brewing a bolder cup of coffee! Steven Turner, retired curator of physical sciences at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, set out to recreate some of Smithson’s experiments in his 2020 book The Science of James Smithson: Discoveries from the Smithsonian Founder.
• Why did James Smithson turn his attentions (and his wallet) toward America? Biographer Heather Ewing offers insight into the Age of Enlightenment ideals that inspired Smithson’s gift in Smithsonian magazine.
• Stop by James Smithson’s resting place in the Smithsonian Castle and see what researchers found inside his sarcophagus in a video from the Smithsonian Science Education Center.

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