May
06

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.

Hungerford Deed and Curator William Bennett
Left: The Hungerford Deed upon arrival at the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives. Image courtesy of William Bennett May 20, 2019.
Right: Curator William Bennett shows the deed as it sits today. Photograph by James Morrison.

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
portrait of James Smithson and sample of Smithsonite
Left: Portrait of James Smithson by Henri-Joseph Johns. Gouache on ivory, 1916. The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.
Right: A sample of Smithsonite, a carbonate of zinc named in honor of James Smithson. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

Listen now

Links and fun stuff

Richard Kuri and podcast host at Smithson tomb
Left: Richard Kurin and Lizzie stand in front of a copy of the memorial that was on James Smithson’s original grave site in Genoa, Italy. Smithson crypt, Smithsonian Castle. Photograph by Nathalie Boyd.
Right: The Smithson crypt, located in the Smithsonian Castle

Posted: 6 May 2022
About the Author:

Jessica Sadeq has worked in the Central Office of Public Affairs since June 2007. She is the Marketing Manager for the Office of Communications and External Affairs.