Jan. 12, 2026

Son of a Wealthy Aristocat: James Smithson

Son of a Wealthy Aristocat: James Smithson
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A British scientist born in France, dead in Italy, and never once a visitor to America quietly set the stage for the world’s largest museum complex. James Smithson’s curious will, his wayward heir, and a windfall that shocked Washington launched a decade of political wrangling that asked a timeless question: how should a nation invest in knowledge? We trace the twists—from Andrew Jackson’s doubts to John Quincy Adams’ starry-eyed advocacy—that forged a uniquely American compromise: a place that could be a museum, a research engine, a library, an observatory, and a publishing house, all under one roof.

We walk through the Castle’s earliest days, when Secretary Joseph Henry prioritized science and publication even as the public fell in love with galleries stuffed with fossils, artifacts, and art. Enter Spencer Baird, the tireless collector who turned letters into lifelines and built a national repository, fueled by expeditions at sea and across the West. Fire threatened to erase the story in 1865, but the Smithsonian rebuilt stronger—and grew into the nation’s attic and treasure chest.

Then comes the chapter few expect: Alexander Graham Bell, armed with paperwork and persistence, descending on a crumbling Genoa cemetery to bring Smithson’s remains to the institution his fortune made possible. Inside the Castle today, a marble sarcophagus completes the circle. Along the way we spotlight icons that give the Smithsonian its mythic pull—Dorothy’s ruby slippers, the Hope Diamond, the Wright Flyer, Lincoln’s top hat, and the Apollo 11 command module—proof that curiosity can hold moon dust and Muppets in the same breath.

If you love origin stories, museum lore, and the improbable choices that shape national identity, this one’s for you. Listen, subscribe, and leave a review to help more curious minds find the show—then tell us your favorite Smithsonian artifact and why it matters to you.

James Smithson Biography (Smithsonian Archives):
https://siarchives.si.edu/history/james-smithson-biography

The Mysterious Mr. Smithson (Smithsonian Magazine):
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-mysterious-mr-smithson-180940400/

Encyclopedia Britannica – James Smithson:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Smithson

The Last Will and Testament of James Smithson (Smithsonian Archives):
https://siarchives.si.edu/history/last-will-and-testament-james-smithson

How the U.S. Acquired the Smithson Bequest (Founders Online / National Archives):
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/99-01-02-3240

Founding Documents and First Smithsonian Building:
https://siarchives.si.edu/history/first-smithsonian-building

How the Smithsonian Came to Be (Smithsonian Magazine):

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00:16 - New Year Banter And Seasonal Beer

03:27 - Who Was James Smithson

07:50 - The Will, The Nephew, And The Fortune

13:42 - Congress Debates How To Use The Gift

19:26 - Building The Castle And Early Vision

23:12 - Collections Explode And A Fire Strikes

28:20 - Iconic Artifacts From Flags To Slippers

32:10 - Alexander Graham Bell Retrieves Smithson

36:05 - Final Resting Place And Modern Legacy

39:10 - Wrap Up And Listener Invitation

WEBVTT

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Oh hey there.

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Oh hey there.

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I'm Kate.

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I'm Bradley.

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And this is History Buffoons.

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Welcome.

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Yeah.

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How are you today?

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I'm doing well.

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How are you?

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I'm doing well.

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Thank you very much.

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Awesome sauce.

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Happy New Year.

00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:31.760
Yeah, happy New Year.

00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:39.600
This will be out um about a week and a week and a half after New Year's, but we are recording on New Year's Day.

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Yes, we are.

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So happy New Year.

00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:45.200
Or did you stay up till midnight?

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No.

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Same.

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I was tired.

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I had to work yesterday.

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Uh so and my kids have been sick.

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So um I had only two stops.

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Sarah had to go into work at eight o'clock.

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And I was home by 7:22.

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Just in time.

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Just in time for her to watch the kids.

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So I got up at 2 40.

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There was no way I was staying up till midnight.

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Not yesterday.

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I wasn't able to get a nap in.

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So nope.

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Nope.

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I woke up and it was a new year.

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So I slept in till 6.

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I didn't get a nap in, and I did not stay up.

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No, not so much.

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But that's okay.

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Yes.

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So anyways.

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What beers do we have today?

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We have a special medello for the season.

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I saw that Sarah and I and the kids were at um Walmart a month or two ago.

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Doesn't matter.

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Um, and I'm like, what is the red modello?

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I've been out of the beer business for over two years, and that's okay.

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So I'm not privy to new things.

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But I saw a red modello and I'm like, what the what?

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So this is wow, it glares on there.

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Noche especial.

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And I believe it's an amber lager, if I remember reading the box right.

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Or I looked it up.

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So I don't know.

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I'm sure you held yours up, but yeah.

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So since you're a big fan of Medello, it's got a nice nutty aroma.

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Not really.

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Um I don't know.

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Just thought it'd be cool to try a different Modello because you don't see a lot of variations of Medello besides their like their chilata line, which has all the different um fruits and whatnot, lime and all that, and just tomato juice or whatever, or tomato juice.

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So yeah, I was curious to try this because I I like Modello.

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You're a bigger fan of Modello than I am.

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But um, yeah, so cheers to this.

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That's not bad.

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What do you think?

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It's a lot lighter than I thought it was gonna be.

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Yeah, it's definitely not a heavy amber at all.

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It's got a nice flavor to it though.

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I will definitely drink those.

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It's almost got like a like a creamy finish to it.

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Finish, yeah.

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Yeah, that's kind of really, really light in the beginning in the middle, and then creamy at the end.

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Yeah, but not like weird creamy.

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It's just it's really good.

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I'm pleasantly surprised at this.

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That's awesome.

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Good.

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All right.

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What do you got for us today?

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Oh, we're gonna talk about James Smithson.

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Smithson?

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Yes, he dies in Italy.

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Oh, another uplifting story.

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Kind of is, actually.

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All right, let's get there.

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I know.

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We're gonna start with the death, but it's fine.

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That's a weird way to start.

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He leaves his fortune to a country he has never visited.

00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:49.840
Oh, okay.

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Decades later, his body is dug up, okay, moved into a castle, oh, full of moon rock slippers, and Muppets.

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Welcome to the bizarre origin of the Smithsonian.

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Smithson.

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Oh.

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Really?

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Yes.

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That's fucking weird.

00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:10.080
Okay.

00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:14.000
I had no idea it started with a dead guy.

00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:24.240
So I'm gonna briefly go into who James Smithson is, why he left his money to the US, having never stepped foot.

00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:26.399
So he was from Italy?

00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:27.519
He's British.

00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:29.120
Oh, he's British, but died in Italy.

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Died in Italy.

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And he left his money to the United States.

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That is very strange.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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So James Smithson was a scientist.

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Oh, nice.

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He was born in 1765.

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Okay.

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In France.

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Oh but he was British.

00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:51.759
This is getting really weird.

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I need some strings to connect the dots here.

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Um, he was the illegitimate son of a wealthy aristocrat.

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Krat.

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Wow.

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I'm like, we're watching the Disney movie.

00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:09.199
Everybody wants to be the cat.

00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:16.480
I still love when I showed you that that clip of Dragula playing to the cats and playing the P.

00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:17.839
Yes, that was great.

00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:18.639
So great.

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Aristotle.

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The he was the illegitimate.

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So he was born to the Duke of Northumberland.

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Um, he only adopted his father's surname Smithson later in life after his mother's death.

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His mother was Elizabeth Hungerford Macy.

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Hungerford Macy.

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Yeah, it doesn't really matter.

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So fuck you.

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He was educated at Oxford.

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Okay.

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So he proved himself to be a very brilliant chemist, an min mineralogist, mineralogist.

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I think that's mineralogist.

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That sounds I'm gonna say that.

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It's the mineralogist.

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Okay.

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I just still wanna, I think I want to name the episode illegitimate aristocrat.

00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:13.680
Um, so Smithson was elected as the youngest member of Britain's prestigious Royal Society.

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Okay, and he had um published 27 scientific papers in his lifetime.

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That's pretty good for back then.

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I know.

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I can't even do a paragraph, let alone 27 papers.

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I know you can't.

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Oh, thanks.

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So his research ranged.

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I like, I like I knew that was coming, but you tried to delay that laugh, and I knew it was it was on its way.

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Because I can't keep a straight face.

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I will leave that one alone.

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So his res research ranged from analyzing the chemical makeup for a lady's teardrops to improving coffee brewing methods.

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I mean, they go hand in hand.

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He even identified a zinc ore that was late later named Smithsonite in his honor.

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Oh, interesting.

00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:11.120
Yeah.

00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:17.600
So despite moving in elite scientific circles, yeah, he had his quirks.

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I'm sure he did.

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He was rumored to be a deep-seated gambler.

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Oh, really?

00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:27.839
And even a suspected spy during the Napoleonic Wars.

00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:28.399
Really?

00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:30.639
I did not do any further research here.

00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:34.639
I only found that in one blurb.

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One blurb, and it was a book, and I just I didn't want to download the whole thing.

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Oh, that's fine.

00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:49.360
Um, but friends worried that his gambling might end up ruining him, but in fact, he had several savvy in in um investments.

00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:54.160
Okay, and he grew a small inheritance from his papa?

00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:58.560
He had money from his papa, but his own investments as well.

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Oh, okay.

00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:01.519
So he inherited his wealth.

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Um, he also invested heavily and wisely, um, particularly in government bonds.

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Okay.

00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:12.000
Um, he had no family and he was actually really frugal.

00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:15.759
Oh, so he just he would just gamble.

00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:19.439
He would gamble, but he apparently probably won some stuff too.

00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:19.839
Yeah.

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But he also had smart investments.

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Yeah.

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And then besides gambling, wouldn't really spend yeah.

00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:27.279
So he ended up being fairly wealthy.

00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:34.240
Well, I mean, if he basically had a fortune to donate to create the Smithsonian, I mean.

00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:36.080
Have you ever been to the Smithsonian?

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I think so.

00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:38.000
Yeah, I was there once.

00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:40.320
I don't remember how old I was on that one.

00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.120
It was because where is that located again?

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It's in DC.

00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:47.759
Yeah, so that was probably when I was around 14.

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So it's been a long time.

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Yeah.

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So, anyways.

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So he traveled widely across Europe in pursuit of scientific knowledge.

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He would climb active volcanoes.

00:08:57.279 --> 00:08:57.759
Jesus.

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He would um climb through caves, collecting minerals.

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One innkeeper even charged him extra for leaving his room littered with stones and dirt.

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He didn't want to take his wares with him.

00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:14.159
I mean, Jesus.

00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:17.360
So he was passionate, passionate about science.

00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:19.200
He believed that way, yeah.

00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:19.840
Exactly.

00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:26.639
He believed, quote, every man is a valuable member of society who procures knowledge for men.

00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:27.200
Okay.

00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:33.600
He never married, he had no children, and it seems that his true heir would be science.

00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:34.799
Good on him.

00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:35.600
Yes.

00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:41.200
I mean, really, it's kind of great because it helps us learn shit.

00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:42.000
Yes.

00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:51.360
So James Smithson died in Genoa, Italy on June 27th, 1829, at the age of 64.

00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:52.000
Okay.

00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:57.360
Cause was most likely malaria or other some some other kind of infectious fever.

00:09:57.679 --> 00:09:58.240
Bummer.

00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:02.240
Smithson's will was written uh three years earlier.

00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:02.799
Okay.

00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:14.639
And it directed that his entire estate go to his nephew, Henry James Hungerford, unless his nephew died without heirs.

00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:15.360
Oh.

00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:26.399
In that case, all the money was to go to the United States of America in Washington under the name of the Smithsonian Institute.

00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:27.759
That's wild.

00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:35.120
He labeled it as an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.

00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:39.519
So why I don't know if you came across this then.

00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:43.759
Did you come across why he picked the United States to give it to?

00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:47.039
Um I don't think I had.

00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:49.759
Why do you think he would have done that?

00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:59.200
I I think that it might have had something to do with him being like an illegitimate son of a Duke and probably getting shunned.

00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:00.559
I could see that.

00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:06.320
But it's funny because he's a British guy, born in France, dies in Italy.

00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:07.440
Italy.

00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:08.799
Never been to America.

00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:10.879
Never been to the Americas.

00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:15.360
It's just it's it's funny how he's like, Yeah.

00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:16.799
That's where it's gonna go.

00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:18.399
Send this to DC.

00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:19.279
Yeah.

00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:20.879
It's like, wait, what?

00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:21.600
Yeah.

00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:26.320
I just it's just, I mean, it's great because now we have the Smithsonian Institute.

00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:33.600
And I'm wondering if it has something to do with like British versus so the you know, America and that whole shebang.

00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:35.039
And it very well could have.

00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:35.200
Yeah.

00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:41.200
And they maybe it was a final fuck you for being illegitimate and kind of shunned from the British.

00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:42.000
Yeah.

00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:44.080
The leader, whatever you want to call it.

00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:52.159
I get I could see that being maybe a possibility, but it also it's like I mean, it's not like DC at that.

00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:53.279
What year was this again?

00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:56.960
Um, it was around 1829.

00:11:57.360 --> 00:11:58.159
Is that when he died?

00:11:58.320 --> 00:11:59.120
That's when he died.

00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:01.919
But when did his nephew die then?

00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:05.519
Um, he died six years later.

00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:07.120
Oh, so not that much longer.

00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:07.679
No.

00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:08.559
Okay.

00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:09.519
Excuse me.

00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:11.200
I heard that one through the microphone.

00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:14.080
His nephew did inherit the money.

00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:15.120
Okay.

00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:19.039
Because he, I mean, they aren't gonna know that his nephew's about to die in six years.

00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:21.679
So yeah, his money was given to the nephew.

00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:25.200
But he didn't have an heir then, apparently, right?

00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:30.000
Yeah, so while he had the money, he lived large in Italy, Paris.

00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:36.080
Um, he would spend freely on travel and horses and luxurious lifestyle items.

00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:37.360
This is the nephew.

00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:51.200
Yes, he had no job, no ambition, he didn't invest, didn't marry, had no children, and then he died in Pisa in 1835, having burned through a portion of the estate already.

00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:55.679
It's amazing everything you listed, and there were still some left.

00:12:56.159 --> 00:12:57.440
Oh, there's a lot left.

00:12:57.919 --> 00:12:59.360
He had a vast fortune then.

00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:00.879
Yes, that's crazy.

00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:01.600
Yes.

00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:11.039
So after he died in 1835, yeah, unmarried and childless, childless, this triggered Smithson's strange bequest.

00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:24.720
Suddenly, the United States had Smithson and Smithson had no physical, personal, mental ties, like nothing.

00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:32.240
Um, and all of a sudden the United States is made the beneficiary of roughly 100,000 pounds.

00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:38.720
Which was back then, back then, no, I know five hundred and eight thousand dollars.

00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:41.200
That's quite a lot of money in 1835.

00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:43.440
17 million dollars.

00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:44.639
Holy fuck.

00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:45.840
Wow.

00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:53.440
Back then it was a sum equal to approximately 1.5% of the entire US federal budget at the time.

00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:54.399
That's crazy.

00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:58.320
So how much do you think they would have had of shitty Henry nephew?

00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:00.240
Probably 20 million, maybe.

00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:02.320
Didn't blow through a bunch of shit.

00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:02.799
Yeah.

00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:04.879
And you know, lived like a douchebag.

00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:07.120
Well, I mean, he lived it up, but yeah, I guess I can't believe it.

00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:08.399
Maybe he died happy.

00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:09.200
We don't know.

00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:10.080
Let's hope so.

00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:14.000
Oh, here's to you, Henry, for hopefully dying happy, but wow.

00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:14.320
Yeah.

00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:15.600
Um, all right.

00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:19.519
So American leaders were like, wait, what?

00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.000
Well, it's like obviously it's not like you've made a phone call at this time.

00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:29.759
I have to write a letter, and it's literally just in the will.

00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:30.399
Yeah.

00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:31.759
Come read this letter.

00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:32.799
Andrew Jackson.

00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:34.720
Andrew Jackson, come read this letter.

00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:35.759
Yeah, yeah.

00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.120
Andrew, I got the weirdest thing in the mail today.

00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:40.480
It's like, what?

00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:42.320
You gotta read this.

00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:53.679
So, president at the time, Andrew Jackson, was unsure if he could even um legally accept the as a yeah, accept it as a gift under the Constitution.

00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:54.480
Sure.

00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:57.120
So he asked Congress to weigh in.

00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:00.559
Congress in 1836 was just as confused.

00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:07.519
Some were excited at the prospect of a national intellectual endowment, and others were skeptical.

00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:09.759
Southern Senator John C.

00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:15.759
Calhoun said that accepting money from a foreigner would be, quote, beneath our dignity.

00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:16.639
Oh, Jesus.

00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:19.679
And beyond the power of Congress, Congress.

00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:26.960
But this is this isn't for so is the Smithsonian is that run through the government?

00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:27.679
Mm-hmm.

00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:28.240
It is.

00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:28.639
Okay.

00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:29.200
Sure.

00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:30.000
Gotcha.

00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:30.639
Yeah.

00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:32.960
Okay, well, never mind them.

00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:46.000
So he and a few other lawmakers um with strong states rights leanings argued that Congress had no constitutional warrant to inherit a private donation.

00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:46.559
Right.

00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:51.759
Another critic, Senator William Preston, feared that it would set a bad precedent.

00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:52.320
Okay.

00:15:53.120 --> 00:16:00.159
He said, quote, every whippersnapper vagabond might think it proper to have his name distinguished in the same way.

00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:00.720
Oh.

00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:07.600
So he warned imagining random riffraff donating funds just to get their name on a building.

00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:11.279
But we're in the era of American pride.

00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:12.159
Yeah.

00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:16.879
But still somewhere uneasy about taking money from an Englishman.

00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:18.320
Which I get.

00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:24.799
But at the same time, like, you know, they wanted to keep the Riff Raff from donating just to get their name on a building.

00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:26.320
But did I How man?

00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:28.480
How much how many Riff Raffs have 500?

00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:29.200
Exactly.

00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:31.919
The equivalent of five five hundred and eight thousand, right?

00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:32.799
At the time.

00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:35.440
How many exactly.

00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:37.200
I wish I had that now.

00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:38.159
That would be great.

00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:39.120
That'd be amazing.

00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:40.480
We don't even need a million dollars.

00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:41.759
Just give us 500,000.

00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:43.679
If I had five hundred thousand dollars.

00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:45.039
Wait, that's not the song.

00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:46.399
Don't tell me.

00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:47.279
Don't tell me.

00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:49.120
Bare naked ladies?

00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:49.600
No.

00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:50.720
Oh, don't tell me.

00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:51.360
Don't tell me.

00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:53.200
I don't even know what you're talking about.

00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:55.759
If I had a million dollars.

00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:57.759
That wasn't bare naked ladies, right?

00:16:57.919 --> 00:16:58.879
It's someone.

00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:01.759
It's someone.

00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:03.200
Oh my god.

00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:04.880
It's not third eye blind.

00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:07.119
It's definitely not third eye blind.

00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:08.480
I'm gonna look it up.

00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:10.000
Million dollars.

00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:12.160
I mean, I guess it could have been bare naked ladies.

00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:13.519
I didn't I don't know.

00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:15.440
It was fucking bare naked ladies.

00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:16.319
Was it really?

00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:17.359
Oh yeah.

00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:20.640
If I had a million dollars, yep.

00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:21.519
Oh shit.

00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:24.000
Look at me getting some musical thing right.

00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:26.640
Anyway, it was someone.

00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:29.440
Maybe that's our maybe that's our title.

00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:30.880
It was someone.

00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:39.839
So despite the grumblings, uh pragmatics, prag You pragmatists.

00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:41.359
Is that wrong?

00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:41.920
No.

00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:42.480
Okay.

00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:43.920
That's great though.

00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:49.200
Like former president John Quincy Adams saw an enormous opportunity here.

00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:55.519
Adams chaired um a house committee to determine what to do with Smithson's inheritance, and he became the voice.

00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:56.079
Okay.

00:17:56.319 --> 00:18:01.839
So he urged his colleagues to look past national pride and see the potential for advancing knowledge.

00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:05.680
Well, and I th I feel like Okay.

00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:11.759
They have this American pride you can't take money from a foreigner, but you're not.

00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:15.039
This foreigner is giving you money, yeah.

00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:20.079
To start this important thing in your country.

00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:22.720
Because he basically said, fuck you.

00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:25.359
To mine, to Britain.

00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:28.000
So look at it that way.

00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:30.400
Which hopefully Signor Quincy.

00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:32.799
I mean, we kind of know that they did.

00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:36.880
Well, I mean, I've been there and I wasn't born 200 years ago.

00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:54.000
So Quincy Adams said, quote, if it should continue essentially to the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, to what higher or nobler object could this generous and splendid donation have been devoted?

00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:54.799
Right.

00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:59.119
Adams to Congress in 1839 persuade this reasoning.

00:18:59.200 --> 00:18:59.279
Okay.

00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:01.920
And Congress voted to accept the gift.

00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:02.720
Aww.

00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:07.920
In July of 1836, they officially authorized the donation.

00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:16.559
President Jackson um dis So you said in 1836 they officially did, and then you just said 1839 before that.

00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:18.960
Oh, my apologies.

00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:20.640
So that was just a misspeak?

00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:21.119
I think so.

00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:21.359
Yeah.

00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:21.599
Okay.

00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:21.920
Sorry.

00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:24.240
I just thought, wait, how do we go back in time?

00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:32.480
Um, so President Jackson um dispatched diplomat Richard Rush to London to secure the funds.

00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:36.720
So was this sitting in a bank like accruing interest at the time?

00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:38.079
So not initially.

00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:38.400
Okay.

00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:40.079
But this is where that changes.

00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:40.640
Gotcha.

00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:59.839
So Rush spent two years untangling legal red tape in England, okay, including fending off a lawsuit from Smithson's late nephew's mother, who tried to claim the money, but ultimately the case was his case was won in court because, dude, you're not part of the court.

00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:01.440
Of the will, so no, it's not gonna get it.

00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:03.359
Look, read the will, lady.

00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:06.720
Yeah, you're you're not Henry, he died.

00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:08.559
You're not an heir of Henry.

00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:12.640
Fuck off, he's an heir of you, so no.

00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:17.440
So in 1838, the court awarded the full sum to the U.S.

00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:18.400
That's crazy.

00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:26.960
Rush personally oversaw converting the estate to gold sovereigns, okay, which were gold coins worth one pound sterling.

00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:27.440
Okay.

00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:32.960
And he even put up a$500,000 bond of his own.

00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:33.759
Oh, wow.

00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:36.559
To guarantee that he wouldn't bolt with the cash.

00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:37.599
Well, sure.

00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:39.039
I mean, that's pretty smart.

00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:44.319
No, that's brilliant because otherwise they could be like, this dude just took off with our fucking money.

00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:44.799
Yeah.

00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:47.680
He's living in$10, too.

00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:49.920
I'd pick a nicer place.

00:20:52.079 --> 00:21:03.119
So by late 1838, 104,960 gold coins, his Smithson's legacy and hard currency.

00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:03.599
Wow.

00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:09.920
Okay, side note real quick.

00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:13.440
At the end of Aristocats, do you remember what happens?

00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:18.960
The butler who tried to kick off the cats, basically.

00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:19.440
Yeah.

00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:22.480
Falls into a box and it's sent to Tim Buck, too.

00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:24.000
That's right, it was.

00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:25.200
That's funny.

00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:25.680
Sorry.

00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:26.960
Totally want to watch that movie.

00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:30.880
Uh if if you want to watch it with my daughter, she likes that movie.

00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:32.960
Xavier used to love that movie.

00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:38.720
So they arrived in New York City in 1838 aboard the ship Mediator.

00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:39.839
The Mediator.

00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:42.480
And then promptly forwarded it to Washington.

00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:42.960
Okay.

00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:45.119
The United States had the money in hand.

00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:46.640
Now came the hard part.

00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:48.000
What are we gonna do with this?

00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:49.599
Well, he was kind of specific.

00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:53.039
Build me a building, put my fucking name on it.

00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:55.039
But what's the building gonna be?

00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:57.200
The Smithsonian Institute.

00:21:57.680 --> 00:21:58.799
But what's inside?

00:21:59.119 --> 00:21:59.839
We don't know yet.

00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:03.440
So once Smithson's money was secured.

00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:05.440
That's that sausage ring still.

00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:08.240
I had brunch with my mom.

00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:10.559
Wow.

00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:11.920
Take a swig.

00:22:12.079 --> 00:22:12.480
Yeah.

00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:14.640
Great going down, not so much coming up.

00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:15.279
Yeah.

00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:25.039
Congress entered nearly a decade of debate over what kind of institution to create.

00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:26.799
A decade?

00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:27.359
Mm-hmm.

00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:28.799
Holy shit.

00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:31.920
So we're talking like late 40s now, all of a sudden.

00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:32.880
Okay.

00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:43.200
So the will's vague mandate an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge could be interpreted in many ways.

00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:43.599
Sure.

00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:45.680
In hindsight, we know what it is.

00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:48.640
Back then, they're like, we can do anything with this.

00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:55.519
So every politician, scholar, specialist, they all had ideas and they are all started lobbying.

00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:58.160
Well, yeah, because they probably wanted to benefit from this.

00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:02.640
So here are a couple of the plans that floated around.

00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:04.480
And ultimately failed.

00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:07.839
The first one, a national university.

00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:08.799
Okay.

00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:15.200
So many assumed the Smithsonian should be a great national university.

00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:23.279
Senator Asher Robbins envisioned um consolidating smaller colleges into a large one.

00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:24.079
Oh, okay.

00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:36.640
He said, quote, we have only to tread the path that led the Athenian to its glory, meaning the Athens Academy, which is apparently a thing.

00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:37.839
Something like that.

00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:38.400
Okay.

00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:39.440
I don't know.

00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:51.359
But he wanted to urge America to establish a grand national university for its youth, but others worried a new university might undercut existing colleges or stray from Smithson's intent.

00:23:51.599 --> 00:23:52.480
I could see that.

00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:56.799
The next one is a science research institute.

00:23:57.119 --> 00:23:58.799
Smithson was a scientist.

00:23:58.960 --> 00:23:59.200
Yeah.

00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:04.960
So some argued the fund should support original scientific research rather than teaching.

00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:07.519
So sorry to interrupt.

00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:14.640
Um, did they know, like, did they get like a synopsis of Smithson's life then, like what he was and everything?

00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:18.640
I have they must have had something because they knew he was a scientist.

00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:18.960
Yeah.

00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:22.880
So and they had to get some type of like who is this guy?

00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:23.279
Yeah.

00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:23.519
Yeah.

00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:26.000
Give me a give me a sheet on what this dude did.

00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:26.400
Yeah.

00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:27.519
They had to have something.

00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:28.240
They had to have.

00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:28.880
So okay.

00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:29.680
Yeah.

00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:40.000
So um the in influential uh physicist at the time, Alexander Dallas Back, the great a great grandson of Benjamin Franklin.

00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:43.920
Oh wow, led a faction calling for a research institute.

00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:44.400
Okay.

00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:51.519
He said, quote, I am most anxious that this fund should furnish means of scientific research in this country.

00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:52.160
Sure.

00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:57.119
Back wrote, back wrote noting that colleges weren't fulfilling that role.

00:24:57.279 --> 00:24:57.519
Okay.

00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:04.000
So this camp wanted laboratories, research grants, and published uh journals to be the focus.

00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:04.559
Okay.

00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:05.039
Okay.

00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:08.640
The next one is a national observatory.

00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:08.960
Oh.

00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:13.839
Former President John Quinty Adams was a an astronomy buff.

00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:14.319
Okay.

00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:19.519
And he wanted to use Smithson's money for a state-of-the-art um observatory.

00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:21.839
I mean, okay.

00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:24.319
He's lobbying for his own interests.

00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:25.119
Weird.

00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:33.839
He said, quote, there is no richer field of science open to the explore exploration of man than astronomical observation.

00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:38.559
And this is funny because this is so we're basically saying 1850.

00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:43.039
We didn't go to the moon and for another 118 years.

00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:44.400
18 or 19 years.

00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:45.920
68, 69.

00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:46.880
I always forget.

00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:50.880
Um so clearly they weren't doing that.

00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:52.160
Couldn't even fly back then.

00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:54.400
So he just wanted to but he knew.

00:25:54.720 --> 00:25:55.839
He knew it was gonna be a thing.

00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:57.839
He didn't know hoped it was gonna be a thing.

00:25:58.160 --> 00:25:58.559
Exactly.

00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:02.640
He's like, no greater thing than just staring at space.

00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:04.480
All right.

00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:06.000
Anyways.

00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:10.640
Then there was a National Museum of American Everything.

00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:13.039
So isn't that basically what it became?

00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:13.839
We'll see.

00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:14.720
We'll see.

00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:21.440
Some suggested the money build a museum to showcase the young nation's heritage and natural wonders.

00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:21.920
Okay.

00:26:22.160 --> 00:26:32.160
In 1840, Congressman uh Joel Poinset and others founded the National Institute for the Promotion of Science with that in mind.

00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:32.720
Okay.

00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:47.200
So they campaigned to use Smithson's funds for a museum filled with American historical relics, inventions, and natural specimens, a place to celebrate American achievement and the continent's resources.

00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:47.839
Sure.

00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:54.079
So kind of a patriotic Hall of Fame Park Cabinet of Curiosities, that kind of thing.

00:26:54.319 --> 00:26:54.799
Right, right.

00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:58.079
But the National Institute Crowd Eventure lost some influence.

00:26:58.319 --> 00:26:58.960
Oh dear.

00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:02.880
So then there was the Educational Institute or Teachers' College.

00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:03.200
Oh.

00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:13.519
Representative Robert Dale Owen of Indiana proposed a Smithsonian school for training teachers, excuse me, and advancing public education.

00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:14.000
Okay.

00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:23.200
His bill envisioned a normal school, a teacher's college, focusing on science and agriculture to spread practical knowledge to the masses.

00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:25.440
This was pretty progressive at the time.

00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:28.079
Free public education wasn't yet widespread.

00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:28.400
Right.

00:27:28.559 --> 00:27:32.960
And Owen saw Smithson's gift as a way to boost it nationally.

00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:33.519
Okay.

00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:42.799
Then we have a library or American Library of Congress, noting that the actual Library of Congress at the time was still tiny.

00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:43.200
Okay.

00:27:43.359 --> 00:27:48.079
Some argued for using the money to create a world-class national library.

00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:58.480
Senator Rufus Choate pointed out that European scholars enjoyed vast libraries, whereas American scholars had to make do with far less.

00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:10.480
He said, quote, why should a German or an Englishman sit down to a repest of 500,000 books and an American be put on something less than half allowance?

00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:17.200
So a mega library, he argued, would diffuse knowledge more widely than a university might.

00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:21.119
Well now, okay.

00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:31.119
But I see where he's going with that.

00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:35.920
But the last one is just to stick to the classics.

00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:36.400
Oh.

00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:44.079
Francis Wayland, president of Brown University at the time, argued against spending it on science at all.

00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:44.559
Oh.

00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:48.880
He felt science and tech were often misused for war and destruction.

00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:49.359
Okay.

00:28:49.519 --> 00:29:02.319
So instead, Wayland suggested an institution devoted strictly to classical literature and philosophy, educating Americans in the higher higher moral wisdom of the ages.

00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:04.240
Yeah, no.

00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:09.119
The debate dragged on for year after year after year.

00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:15.119
Congress went back and forth among all these options, and in the end, they had a compromise.

00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:15.759
Okay.

00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:27.599
Massachusetts congressman and science enthusiast Robert Dale Owen, the same guy who wanted the teachers' college, took a lead role in drafting the final legislation.

00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:28.160
Okay.

00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:33.440
The bill that finally passed and was signed into law by President James K.

00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:40.000
Polk on August 10th, 1846, combined several ideas.

00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:56.880
The new Smithsonian Institute would encompass a museum, a library, a lecture hall, a chemical laboratory, an observatory, and a program of scientific research and publications.

00:29:57.119 --> 00:29:59.839
So it's like they took all those ideas.

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:01.920
Hey, can I borrow your blender?

00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:03.440
Yes.

00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:07.039
And they threw those in, like, see what comes out.

00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:08.880
Hope I don't trip to breaker.

00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:12.400
And like, here's what we're doing.

00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:13.279
Yes.

00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:14.319
Seriously.

00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:20.720
That's I mean, it's kind of nice that they compromise and literally put them all together because like they're all beneficial.

00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:22.079
They're all great to a degree.

00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:22.480
Yeah.

00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:30.400
But you don't need I feel like if they focused just on the one, it would have been a loss, and we wouldn't be talking about the Smithsonians still today.

00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:30.799
Yeah.

00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:33.119
We wouldn't have been there or whatever.

00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:35.920
You know, I was there when I was, I think I was 14.

00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:37.039
I have to burp.

00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:37.920
I'm so sorry.

00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:39.119
Do it away from the mic.

00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:40.640
I will when I have to.

00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:42.400
Um, but I don't know.

00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:44.240
It's kind of nice that they compromise.

00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:52.319
So so whatever the institution does must uphold Smithson's broad purpose of increasing and diffusing knowledge.

00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:52.799
Right.

00:30:53.039 --> 00:31:02.240
So the implementation and the interpretation of this mission were left to a board of regents and a secretary of the Smithsonian.

00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:02.640
Right.

00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:07.839
So, in other words, Congress set up the playing field and the rules, and then they handed off the ball.

00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:08.319
Sure.

00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:23.839
After 10 years of debate, the Smithsonian Institution was born a uniquely American blend of uh research center, museum, and educational platform, thanks to the generous and splendid donation of one eccentric Englishman.

00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:29.839
That's still crazy that just a random Englishman born in France died in Italy.

00:31:30.319 --> 00:31:33.359
Born in France, British man, died in Italy.

00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:34.880
Do you know what that kind of reminds me of?

00:31:35.039 --> 00:31:36.240
The way I just said it there and everything.

00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:41.279
Remember the little thing he says in the accountant where he's like, I forget the guy's name now.

00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:41.680
Fuck.

00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:48.160
Uh born on a Monday, sick on a Tuesday, you know, buried on what I don't remember.

00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:51.039
The guy's goddamn, I'm pissed I can't remember off the top of my head.

00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:57.440
But just saying, like, British man, born in France, died in Italy, donated to the US.

00:31:57.839 --> 00:31:58.880
It's just it's just weird.

00:31:59.039 --> 00:32:02.000
It's like what a weird fucking pathway to get.

00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:05.359
I had no idea this is how we got the Smithsonian.

00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:06.640
This is this is wild.

00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:12.640
So the new Smithsonian needed a home, and it had to be as multi-purpose as the institution's mission.

00:32:12.880 --> 00:32:13.119
Sure.

00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:28.240
So Congress had included funds for a building specifying it should contain in one facility an art gallery, a library, lecture hall, rooms for scientific research, and museum exhibition space.

00:32:28.480 --> 00:32:28.799
Okay.

00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:32.640
So a prominent architect, James Renwick Jr.

00:32:33.759 --> 00:32:35.839
was hired to design a suitable structure.

00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:36.400
Okay.

00:32:36.799 --> 00:32:50.160
He delivered a grand red sandstone building in a neo-medieval revival style, immediately nicknamed the castle, for its resemblance to a gothic fortress.

00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:53.440
So that's why you said the body was moved to a castle.

00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:54.000
Gotcha.

00:32:54.160 --> 00:32:54.319
Okay.

00:32:54.640 --> 00:32:59.519
When the castle's exterior was completed around 1855, it grabbed a lot of attention.

00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:05.839
So that that wasn't for back then, that wasn't terribly long after they decided this is what we're doing.

00:33:06.079 --> 00:33:08.559
I mean, really, that's pretty impressive, actually.

00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:15.920
The Smithsonian's own reports proudly noted that the majority of strangers who's who visit the city consider it a very beautiful edifice.

00:33:16.160 --> 00:33:16.640
Sure.

00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:19.920
Inside, the castle does try to do it all.

00:33:20.079 --> 00:33:20.319
Okay.

00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:32.640
By the late 1850s, the Great Hall and adjacent adjacent rooms held displays of art, historical artifacts, and natural specimens, while upstairs there was the scientific laboratories and their reading room.

00:33:32.799 --> 00:33:33.200
All right.

00:33:33.359 --> 00:33:38.240
Now the secretary of the Smithsonian, he's like the top dog, the secretary is.

00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:38.720
Okay.

00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:41.839
Even had his own residence in one of the wings.

00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:42.880
Oh shit, really?

00:33:43.920 --> 00:33:48.079
The first secretary was physicist Um Joseph Henry.

00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:54.640
He was a renowned scientist, um, known for his work on electromagnetis magnetism.

00:33:55.440 --> 00:33:56.400
Magnetism.

00:33:59.440 --> 00:34:00.319
Thank you for that.

00:34:00.559 --> 00:34:01.920
Long words are hard.

00:34:03.039 --> 00:34:04.319
No, no, no.

00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:06.079
Take off long.

00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:09.199
Words are hard.

00:34:09.440 --> 00:34:10.079
Words are hard.

00:34:10.400 --> 00:34:13.280
Henry was a serious and reserved man.

00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:13.679
Okay.

00:34:13.840 --> 00:34:18.320
And he believed the Smithsonian's highest calling was scientific research and publication.

00:34:18.559 --> 00:34:18.880
Sure.

00:34:19.039 --> 00:34:29.199
So he pushed for the institution to sponsor original research, exchange scientific information internationally, and publish scholarly papers.

00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:30.800
As opposed to what?

00:34:32.079 --> 00:34:32.719
Not.

00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:42.480
As opposed to the art part and the specimens and the art gallery.

00:34:42.800 --> 00:34:47.280
I kind of like that it's a it's a museum, which art is part of that.

00:34:47.599 --> 00:34:51.760
The secretary is like, I really like the the scientific part, not really the museum part.

00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:53.119
So he liked the upstairs.

00:34:53.199 --> 00:34:54.719
Yeah, he didn't care for the downstairs.

00:34:55.119 --> 00:34:58.880
Yeah, he thought that the museum part was like the secondary importance.

00:34:59.199 --> 00:35:00.079
Which is fine.

00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:01.679
Okay, so that's what he was meaning.

00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:02.639
I get that.

00:35:02.719 --> 00:35:12.480
But at the same time, I feel like collecting the things, like, because I mean, isn't even Indiana Jones's fucking coat and Fedora in the Smithsonian?

00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:12.880
Maybe.

00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:13.679
I believe.

00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:15.440
Shit like that, you know?

00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:16.000
Mm-hmm.

00:35:16.239 --> 00:35:25.920
Actually, I saw someone funny, like, they're talking about how it wasn't Indiana Jones, but as somebody somebody got something in the Smithsonian from like their show or something.

00:35:26.079 --> 00:35:27.360
It was very popular.

00:35:27.760 --> 00:35:30.960
It joked about it being next to Bill Cosby's sweater.

00:35:31.840 --> 00:35:32.719
Or something like that.

00:35:32.800 --> 00:35:33.599
I don't remember the joke.

00:35:33.760 --> 00:35:34.719
It's random.

00:35:34.960 --> 00:35:36.800
We're talking about the Smithsonian.

00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:37.679
It's random.

00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:38.480
It's not random.

00:35:38.639 --> 00:35:40.320
We're literally that's where I'm talking.

00:35:40.559 --> 00:35:40.960
Alright.

00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:41.760
Anyways.

00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:43.920
So uh cover your drink.

00:35:44.320 --> 00:35:52.719
The American public loved the idea of a national museum, and before long, specimens started arriving at the castle doors.

00:35:53.119 --> 00:35:54.639
So they just sent them to it.

00:35:54.960 --> 00:35:55.599
There you go.

00:35:55.760 --> 00:35:56.559
Take this rock.

00:35:56.719 --> 00:35:59.280
Hey, we got a skull on our doorstep.

00:36:01.280 --> 00:36:02.320
Put it upstairs.

00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:03.760
We'll put it in the museum later.

00:36:04.159 --> 00:36:04.800
You figured out.

00:36:04.880 --> 00:36:05.119
Yeah.

00:36:05.280 --> 00:36:07.760
So a major boost came from the U.S.

00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:21.440
exploring expedition of 1838 through 1842, which was the Wilkes expedition, which had circumnavigated the globe and collected thousands of scientific specimens and artifacts.

00:36:21.679 --> 00:36:28.159
And in 1858, the Smithsonian acquired and put on display many of the items from this expedition.

00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:29.039
Oh, nice.

00:36:29.920 --> 00:36:33.039
At the same time, the American West was being explored.

00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:33.679
Sure was.

00:36:33.840 --> 00:36:40.960
And the Smithsonian became um the repository for finds from adventures out there.

00:36:41.360 --> 00:36:44.159
Yeah, fossils and minerals and plants and animal specimens.

00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:46.159
Well, yeah, because it's new territory.

00:36:46.400 --> 00:36:47.039
New shit.

00:36:47.119 --> 00:36:47.599
Mm-hmm.

00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:49.360
So Joseph Henry.

00:36:49.599 --> 00:36:50.800
Sorry, new territory.

00:36:50.880 --> 00:36:55.920
Who dis I couldn't help myself on that one?

00:36:56.239 --> 00:37:08.159
So uh Joseph Henry um may have fretted a little bit about balancing priorities, but even he couldn't resist the scientific value of these collections coming in.

00:37:08.400 --> 00:37:09.199
Well, and that's the thing.

00:37:09.280 --> 00:37:13.840
Like, I understand maybe art on the wall, not so much, but like you're getting fossils and shit.

00:37:14.559 --> 00:37:16.960
He's even got mummies arriving at his doorstep.

00:37:17.119 --> 00:37:20.559
So from from the West, from Egypt.

00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:21.519
I know.

00:37:23.039 --> 00:37:24.559
Which mummy is this?

00:37:24.800 --> 00:37:27.039
Uh Wild Bill Hiccock?

00:37:27.119 --> 00:37:27.599
I don't know.

00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:40.320
So a key figure in the Smithsonian's early growth was Spencer Fullerton Baird, a brilliant naturalist who joined as assistant secretary in 1850.

00:37:40.639 --> 00:37:40.960
Okay.

00:37:41.440 --> 00:37:46.079
Baird was uh was a prodigious collector and organizer.

00:37:46.320 --> 00:37:57.280
When he moved to Washington to take the job, he literally brought two railroad boxed cars full of his own zoological specimen collections with him.

00:37:57.599 --> 00:37:58.960
Holy fuck.

00:38:00.320 --> 00:38:00.800
Wow.

00:38:01.039 --> 00:38:03.039
I have a collection of action figures.

00:38:03.760 --> 00:38:08.159
I don't have two boxcars full of fucking zoological things.

00:38:08.400 --> 00:38:10.880
I have a collection of Pride and Prejudice novels.

00:38:11.199 --> 00:38:15.840
Yeah, that would take up like that much in the Smithsonian.

00:38:16.320 --> 00:38:18.400
Um, anyways, that's crazy.

00:38:18.559 --> 00:38:19.679
He had that much shit.

00:38:20.239 --> 00:38:23.599
He had aspirations to build what he called a national museum.

00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:31.280
Oh, so he just more or less put his dream to aside and said, let's just focus it into this one.

00:38:31.599 --> 00:38:31.920
Yeah.

00:38:32.159 --> 00:38:32.480
Basically.

00:38:32.800 --> 00:38:33.039
Yeah.

00:38:33.119 --> 00:38:33.280
Yeah.

00:38:33.360 --> 00:38:35.360
He's like he wanted to be director one day.

00:38:35.599 --> 00:38:35.840
Sure.

00:38:36.079 --> 00:38:39.599
So Bear got straight to work expanding the Smithsonian collection.

00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:50.480
He wrote 3,600 letters a year to far-flung explorers and collectors, training them how to gather and ship specimens back to DC.

00:38:51.039 --> 00:38:54.000
3,600 letters a year.

00:38:54.480 --> 00:38:57.119
That is almost 10 a day.

00:38:58.159 --> 00:39:01.280
And that would be one thing if you just hit the copy button.

00:39:03.039 --> 00:39:05.039
But they didn't have that back then.

00:39:05.280 --> 00:39:08.480
Even um, I would assume typewriters were around then, right?

00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:09.440
Maybe.

00:39:10.800 --> 00:39:11.599
Long form.

00:39:11.840 --> 00:39:14.480
Fucking get my ink and my quill and ink.

00:39:14.800 --> 00:39:17.360
Where's where's Johannes Gutenberg?

00:39:17.760 --> 00:39:19.679
Well, I mean, that was around printing press.

00:39:19.760 --> 00:39:20.800
I guess he could have done that.

00:39:21.039 --> 00:39:29.840
So under his watch, specimens, um excuse me, shipments of birds, rocks, fossils, you name it, poured into the castle.

00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:43.360
So by the time Baird succeeded Joseph Henry as secretary in 1878, the Smithsonian's National Museum collection had exploded to over 2.5 million specimens and artifacts.

00:39:43.599 --> 00:39:44.079
That's crazy.

00:39:44.320 --> 00:39:46.480
Requiring more buildings to house them.

00:39:46.719 --> 00:39:47.360
Yep.

00:39:48.079 --> 00:39:51.199
I don't recall, because again, I don't remember exactly when I was there.

00:39:51.360 --> 00:39:53.599
Is there multiple facilities?

00:39:53.840 --> 00:39:58.639
They're not all are they all connected or they're they're just different they might be connected underground.

00:39:58.960 --> 00:39:59.119
Okay.

00:39:59.280 --> 00:39:59.679
Fair enough.

00:40:00.079 --> 00:40:00.559
Yeah.

00:40:00.880 --> 00:40:04.079
So and I got that from the movie Um Night of the Museum.

00:40:05.519 --> 00:40:07.280
Is that why you watched it the other day?

00:40:07.519 --> 00:40:09.440
No, that was just pure coincidence.

00:40:10.079 --> 00:40:10.159
Yeah.

00:40:10.400 --> 00:40:11.280
Because you told me you watched it.

00:40:11.519 --> 00:40:12.000
I did.

00:40:12.239 --> 00:40:14.880
No, that maybe it was subconscious.

00:40:15.199 --> 00:40:15.760
Maybe, yeah.

00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:17.199
But yeah, I did watch that movie.

00:40:17.840 --> 00:40:18.159
That's funny.

00:40:18.559 --> 00:40:20.719
Yeah, I didn't even I couldn't I didn't even remember that I did.

00:40:20.880 --> 00:40:21.519
That's awesome.

00:40:21.679 --> 00:40:22.000
Okay.

00:40:22.159 --> 00:40:28.000
So Baird's tenure coincided with America's um centennial, 1876.

00:40:28.239 --> 00:40:28.800
Oh yeah.

00:40:28.960 --> 00:40:29.360
Mm-hmm.

00:40:29.519 --> 00:40:32.159
Which spurred nationalism and funding for museums.

00:40:32.239 --> 00:40:32.400
Oh.

00:40:32.559 --> 00:40:37.039
So eventually Congress formally recognized the Smithsonian as the umbrella for the U.S.

00:40:37.199 --> 00:40:45.760
National Museum in 1876 through 1879, cementing the dual role of the institution, not just as a research center, right?

00:40:45.840 --> 00:40:48.079
But the nation's attic and treasure chest.

00:40:48.400 --> 00:40:49.760
Attic and treasure chest.

00:40:49.840 --> 00:40:50.000
Okay.

00:40:50.320 --> 00:40:53.039
In 1865, disaster struck.

00:40:53.280 --> 00:40:53.920
Oh no.

00:40:54.239 --> 00:40:56.719
A fire ripped through the upper floors.

00:40:56.960 --> 00:40:58.719
Oh, do they know how it started?

00:40:58.960 --> 00:41:00.000
No, I don't think so.

00:41:00.400 --> 00:41:02.960
At least I didn't I didn't find that in my research.

00:41:03.199 --> 00:41:03.519
Okay.

00:41:04.079 --> 00:41:12.400
But uh um Joseph Henry watched helplessly as the institution's library and some exhibits went up in flames.

00:41:12.559 --> 00:41:13.360
Oh, that's sad.

00:41:13.599 --> 00:41:20.400
Many of James Smithson's own papers and personal effects which had been shipped over from England were destroyed.

00:41:20.639 --> 00:41:21.360
Oh no.

00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:29.039
Um among the losses, Smithson's wardrobe, including the only two pairs of underwear he owned at his death.

00:41:29.599 --> 00:41:30.559
Will up in smoke.

00:41:30.960 --> 00:41:34.719
He only owned two pairs of underwear.

00:41:34.960 --> 00:41:36.000
Supposedly.

00:41:36.400 --> 00:41:41.679
But the Smithsonian rebuilt and persevered with improved fireproofing.

00:41:41.920 --> 00:41:42.239
Okay.

00:41:42.400 --> 00:41:54.480
The castle was repaired and continued to serve as headquarters, museums, uh, research lab, library, sometimes bachelor pad, depending on the secretary, for many more decades.

00:41:54.719 --> 00:41:54.960
Yeah.

00:41:55.119 --> 00:41:55.440
Okay.

00:41:56.239 --> 00:42:03.840
Until the Smithsonian's expansion eventually spread its collections into numerous specialized museums along the National Mall.

00:42:04.079 --> 00:42:04.559
Gotcha.

00:42:04.639 --> 00:42:04.960
Okay.

00:42:05.199 --> 00:42:16.480
So through those early growing pains, the institution Smithson founded evolved into a uniquely American blend of learning and accessible public wonder, just as you might have hoped.

00:42:16.639 --> 00:42:17.119
Right.

00:42:17.440 --> 00:42:20.960
A place to increase and diffusion of knowledge.

00:42:21.199 --> 00:42:22.480
That's awesome.

00:42:22.719 --> 00:42:30.559
From the beginning, the institution amassed an eclectic horde of artifacts spanning art, history, science, and pop culture.

00:42:30.800 --> 00:42:31.360
Yep.

00:42:31.599 --> 00:42:38.320
Today it's the world's largest museum complex with around 155 million items.

00:42:38.639 --> 00:42:40.000
Holy Christ.

00:42:40.239 --> 00:42:43.519
Including some of the most famous objects on the planet.

00:42:43.840 --> 00:42:56.239
Like the Smithsonian holds everything from ancient Chinese bronzes to the actual star spangled banner, the huge 1814 American flag that inspired the national anthem.

00:42:56.320 --> 00:42:56.639
Yeah.

00:42:56.880 --> 00:43:03.920
From a 3.5 billion year-old fossil, one of the oldest fossils ever discovered.

00:43:04.159 --> 00:43:05.199
What's it a fossil of?

00:43:05.599 --> 00:43:06.559
I didn't look into it.

00:43:06.800 --> 00:43:07.440
Come on.

00:43:07.679 --> 00:43:13.519
To the Americ to the Apollo 11 command module that carried astronauts back from the moon.

00:43:13.760 --> 00:43:14.880
I knew that, yeah.

00:43:15.360 --> 00:43:16.559
Also included.

00:43:16.639 --> 00:43:16.880
Yeah.

00:43:17.039 --> 00:43:18.400
From 1939.

00:43:18.719 --> 00:43:19.679
Oh, good year.

00:43:20.239 --> 00:43:21.599
Dorothy's Ruby slippers.

00:43:21.760 --> 00:43:22.000
Yep.

00:43:22.800 --> 00:43:29.280
The ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland and the Wizard of Oz reside in the National Museum of American History.

00:43:29.599 --> 00:43:32.639
The pair on display is actually mismatched.

00:43:32.800 --> 00:43:33.039
Yeah.

00:43:33.280 --> 00:43:35.840
One shoe is a half size larger than the other.

00:43:36.159 --> 00:43:37.280
But we don't care.

00:43:37.599 --> 00:43:37.920
No.

00:43:38.159 --> 00:43:50.400
Um the iconic shoes were so beloved that in 2016 the Smithsonian even ran a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for their conservation, which metics met its goal.

00:43:50.800 --> 00:43:51.039
Oh.

00:43:51.599 --> 00:43:53.119
I mean, yeah, fans of the movie.

00:43:53.280 --> 00:43:53.679
Oh yeah.

00:43:53.840 --> 00:43:56.559
Especially with the popularity of Wicked these days.

00:43:56.719 --> 00:43:56.880
Yeah.

00:43:57.039 --> 00:43:57.599
So yeah.

00:43:57.920 --> 00:43:58.239
Okay.

00:43:58.559 --> 00:44:00.480
Then we have the Hope Diamond.

00:44:00.719 --> 00:44:02.079
Yes, that's right.

00:44:02.320 --> 00:44:06.719
A 45.5 karat deep blue diamond.

00:44:06.880 --> 00:44:07.280
Yeah.

00:44:07.519 --> 00:44:11.199
Arguably the most famous and notorious gemstone in the world.

00:44:11.360 --> 00:44:11.519
Right.

00:44:11.599 --> 00:44:11.760
Yeah.

00:44:11.920 --> 00:44:22.320
It was worn by French kings, stolen during the revolution, sold to heiresses and kings, and rumored rumored to carry a curse and bring bad luck to its owners.

00:44:22.559 --> 00:44:23.920
Didn't look into it.

00:44:24.159 --> 00:44:27.920
In 15, in 18, nope, 1958.

00:44:28.079 --> 00:44:28.719
Oh my god.

00:44:29.280 --> 00:44:39.519
New York jeweler Harry Winston decided to donate the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and he sent it through the US Mail.

00:44:39.840 --> 00:44:40.960
What the fuck?

00:44:41.199 --> 00:44:58.559
He wrapped the$350 million jewel in brown paper, put it in a box, and paid$2.44 in postage and about$140 for insurance and mailed it to Washington, D.C., where it arrived safely.

00:44:58.800 --> 00:45:00.800
I wonder how he got his hands on it.

00:45:01.119 --> 00:45:02.079
That'd be interesting.

00:45:02.239 --> 00:45:02.559
Yeah.

00:45:02.800 --> 00:45:05.599
The Hope Diamond is now on permanent display.

00:45:05.920 --> 00:45:06.639
Well, yeah.

00:45:07.760 --> 00:45:10.079
I mean, what's the value of that?

00:45:10.159 --> 00:45:10.880
I wonder.

00:45:11.519 --> 00:45:14.320
Well, it was at the time it was$350 million.

00:45:14.639 --> 00:45:17.440
So and that was in the 50s, you said, right?

00:45:17.920 --> 00:45:18.400
58.

00:45:18.719 --> 00:45:19.039
Yeah.

00:45:19.280 --> 00:45:23.039
So it's gotta be at least 356 million now.

00:45:23.920 --> 00:45:25.440
And then we have the Muppets.

00:45:25.599 --> 00:45:25.920
Yep.

00:45:26.079 --> 00:45:31.119
The Smithsonian um has Kermit the Frog and Friends.

00:45:31.280 --> 00:45:32.320
Like the original.

00:45:32.559 --> 00:45:39.199
Jim Henson's original Kermit puppet, fashioned from an old coat and ping-pong ball eyes.

00:45:39.360 --> 00:45:39.599
Yep.

00:45:39.760 --> 00:45:42.400
Was donated to the Smithsonian in 1994.

00:45:42.639 --> 00:45:43.119
That's cool.

00:45:43.280 --> 00:45:45.840
And has sat happily on display.

00:45:46.079 --> 00:45:49.119
But poor Kermit was was solo for a couple years.

00:45:49.360 --> 00:45:51.119
Oh no, until Miss Piggy showed up.

00:45:51.440 --> 00:45:52.800
Until 2013.

00:45:52.960 --> 00:45:53.119
Yeah.

00:45:53.360 --> 00:45:56.559
Henson's family donated a whole troupe of Muppets.

00:45:56.719 --> 00:45:57.119
That's awesome.

00:45:57.360 --> 00:45:58.800
Including Miss Piggy.

00:45:58.960 --> 00:45:59.679
Well, duh.

00:46:00.159 --> 00:46:04.079
To welcome Miss Piggy in true diva style.

00:46:04.320 --> 00:46:05.039
Oh dear.

00:46:05.360 --> 00:46:15.679
Smithsonian staff arranged a photo shoot pairing the pig with Dorothy's ruby slippers and the Hope Diamond.

00:46:15.840 --> 00:46:16.880
Oh my word.

00:46:17.119 --> 00:46:17.519
Yes.

00:46:17.760 --> 00:46:24.159
Behind closed doors at dawn with armed guards escorting the Hope Diamond to Piggy's neck.

00:46:24.559 --> 00:46:25.440
Jesus Christ.

00:46:25.599 --> 00:46:27.119
Well, yeah, you need armed guards for that.

00:46:27.760 --> 00:46:28.400
God forbid.

00:46:28.880 --> 00:46:36.480
We have an image of Miss Piggy draped in the 45 karat Hope Diamond next to the famed slippers.

00:46:36.719 --> 00:46:38.239
I'm pretty sure I've seen that picture.

00:46:38.800 --> 00:46:38.960
Yeah.

00:46:39.360 --> 00:46:40.079
That's funny.

00:46:40.320 --> 00:46:43.920
The Smithsonian houses countless artifacts in American history.

00:46:45.039 --> 00:46:50.320
Top hat of Abraham Lincoln, which he wore to the Fords Theater in 1865.

00:46:50.559 --> 00:46:51.840
Yeah, it didn't turn out too well.

00:46:52.079 --> 00:46:54.320
The original Star Spangled Banner, as I said.

00:46:54.480 --> 00:46:54.719
Yep.

00:46:54.960 --> 00:46:59.519
Thomas Jefferson's desk, which he drafted the Declaration of Independence on.

00:46:59.760 --> 00:47:00.000
Nice.

00:47:00.159 --> 00:47:02.559
The Wright brothers 1903 Flyer.

00:47:02.639 --> 00:47:02.880
Yep.

00:47:03.039 --> 00:47:03.840
The first airplane.

00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:04.159
Yep.

00:47:04.239 --> 00:47:04.480
Yep.

00:47:04.639 --> 00:47:08.079
Um Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 spacesuit.

00:47:08.239 --> 00:47:08.400
Okay.

00:47:08.880 --> 00:47:11.360
Which was still dusted with moondust.

00:47:12.079 --> 00:47:18.719
And um Dorothy's dress from The Wizard of Oz, Indiana Jones' fedora and jacket.

00:47:18.800 --> 00:47:19.039
Yep.

00:47:19.199 --> 00:47:21.440
Julia Child's entire kitchen.

00:47:21.599 --> 00:47:25.599
And Unky Unc Archie Bunker's armchair from all in the family.

00:47:26.000 --> 00:47:27.039
Sounds like you're gonna say Unky.

00:47:27.280 --> 00:47:28.079
Unky Barker.

00:47:28.239 --> 00:47:29.199
Unky Barker.

00:47:29.360 --> 00:47:32.000
Isn't uh Fonzi's coat in it too?

00:47:32.320 --> 00:47:33.119
Sounds about right.

00:47:33.280 --> 00:47:33.679
I believe.

00:47:33.760 --> 00:47:34.639
I think that's right.

00:47:34.880 --> 00:47:36.320
I just gave you some of the highlights.

00:47:36.639 --> 00:47:37.039
That's fine.

00:47:37.119 --> 00:47:40.000
I I'm pretty sure Fonsey's leather jacket's in there as well.

00:47:40.159 --> 00:47:40.400
Yeah.

00:47:40.559 --> 00:47:41.119
I believe.

00:47:41.440 --> 00:47:44.000
So one more dramatic chapter here.

00:47:44.239 --> 00:47:45.039
Oh no.

00:47:45.440 --> 00:47:49.440
Their journey of James Smithson's own remains.

00:47:49.679 --> 00:47:50.079
Yes.

00:47:50.400 --> 00:47:54.639
Smithson died in 1829 in Genoa, Italy, and was buried there.

00:47:54.800 --> 00:47:55.119
Yeah.

00:47:55.280 --> 00:47:57.599
Um, in a small British cemetery.

00:47:57.840 --> 00:47:58.159
Okay.

00:47:58.639 --> 00:48:01.679
For 75 years, he rested there.

00:48:02.159 --> 00:48:10.400
But in at by the turn of the 20th century, the Genoa Cemetery was in despair and slated for uh relocation.

00:48:10.639 --> 00:48:11.119
Oh dear.

00:48:11.280 --> 00:48:16.000
There was actually some um erosion happening.

00:48:16.320 --> 00:48:17.039
Oh shit.

00:48:17.199 --> 00:48:17.519
Okay.

00:48:17.920 --> 00:48:27.199
So in 1903, the Smithsonian's Board of Regents decided that the founder's bones should be brought to America for a proper honor.

00:48:27.440 --> 00:48:28.000
Sure.

00:48:28.480 --> 00:48:40.480
None other than Alexander Graham Bell, the famous inventor of the telephone, who happened to be a Smithsonian regent and an adventurer, apparently.

00:48:40.639 --> 00:48:40.960
All right.

00:48:41.360 --> 00:48:43.519
He took up the task to go get him.

00:48:43.760 --> 00:48:47.440
He sailed to Genoa with his wife Mabel in 1903.

00:48:47.679 --> 00:48:48.800
Mabel Bell.

00:48:49.360 --> 00:48:50.159
Mabel Bell.

00:48:50.320 --> 00:48:51.280
This just sounds weird.

00:48:52.320 --> 00:48:57.440
Bell and arrived in Genoa doing during a very wet and cold winter.

00:48:57.679 --> 00:48:58.320
Oh dear.

00:48:58.559 --> 00:49:08.880
He found the cemetery perched on a cliffside so eroded that some coffins were literally falling into about to fall into the sea.

00:49:09.119 --> 00:49:09.840
That's crazy.

00:49:10.079 --> 00:49:10.559
Yes.

00:49:10.880 --> 00:49:12.800
He's like, I better get with it.

00:49:13.039 --> 00:49:14.960
I uh need a shovel over here.

00:49:15.119 --> 00:49:15.760
Yes.

00:49:16.559 --> 00:49:23.119
So he said, quote, there seemed to be no end to the red tape necessary to remove the body.

00:49:23.280 --> 00:49:23.920
Oh boy.

00:49:24.719 --> 00:49:38.800
They needed permits for exhumation, permits to move the remains out of Italy, permits to buy a new coffin, letters from the British consul, the American consul, the local health office, etc.

00:49:39.119 --> 00:49:39.360
etc.

00:49:39.920 --> 00:49:40.800
That's crazy.

00:49:40.960 --> 00:49:41.599
Yes.

00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:47.199
He was like, I can make a telephone for, you know, before I have to do all this.

00:49:47.440 --> 00:49:48.800
He's like, ohoy hoy.

00:49:49.360 --> 00:50:04.800
So things took a turn um when an old injunction surfaced filed decades earlier by a distant French relative of Smithson, forbidding the removal of Smithson's remains for any reason or any person whatsoever.

00:50:04.960 --> 00:50:06.079
Like, why?

00:50:06.480 --> 00:50:06.960
Why?

00:50:08.079 --> 00:50:10.159
Why would they come up with that?

00:50:10.400 --> 00:50:10.800
Why?

00:50:11.039 --> 00:50:16.800
That seems really obscure and like that makes no fucking sense.

00:50:17.039 --> 00:50:17.519
Yes.

00:50:17.840 --> 00:50:22.239
The local mayor barred Bell from touching the grave.

00:50:22.800 --> 00:50:26.159
Bell feared that he might have to sail home defeated.

00:50:27.280 --> 00:50:30.719
Um so he he barred Bell from touching the grave.

00:50:30.880 --> 00:50:32.159
Couldn't be like, dude, come here.

00:50:32.320 --> 00:50:33.760
Yeah, you you touch it.

00:50:35.519 --> 00:50:37.760
So Bell sprang into action.

00:50:37.840 --> 00:50:45.199
Um, he marshalled all the documents he could, including Smithson's will and family tree, yeah, to prove the U.S.

00:50:45.360 --> 00:50:48.000
had legitimate claim as Smithson's heir.

00:50:48.239 --> 00:50:51.280
Well, yeah, I mean, he's not wrong at that point.

00:50:51.519 --> 00:50:59.199
He told Italian off officials that he was there as a personal representative of the president at the time, Theodore Roosevelt.

00:50:59.360 --> 00:50:59.679
Yeah.

00:51:00.079 --> 00:51:03.440
Not exactly true, but it actually worked.

00:51:03.599 --> 00:51:04.480
It's a white lie.

00:51:05.519 --> 00:51:09.519
So he also had a little bit of cash that helped grease the wheels a little bit.

00:51:09.760 --> 00:51:10.079
Oh.

00:51:11.280 --> 00:51:19.440
Bell's friend, um, an American console quietly spread around a thousand lyre to smooth over any lingering objections.

00:51:19.519 --> 00:51:19.840
Yeah.

00:51:20.320 --> 00:51:25.599
So the injunction from the French relatives was overturned and permission was granted to carry on.

00:51:25.840 --> 00:51:26.159
Nice.

00:51:26.400 --> 00:51:31.840
In early January of 1904, Smithson's coffin was last raised from the earth.

00:51:32.000 --> 00:51:32.320
Okay.

00:51:32.559 --> 00:51:35.440
The remains inside were remarkably intact.

00:51:35.679 --> 00:51:35.920
Really?

00:51:36.159 --> 00:51:39.199
Bell noted the skeleton was complete and well preserved.

00:51:39.280 --> 00:51:45.199
The bones did not crumble, though the old wooden coffin itself completely disintegrated.

00:51:45.440 --> 00:51:47.360
On top of the body or whatever.

00:51:47.599 --> 00:51:51.920
The remains were carefully transferred into a new metal-lined coffin.

00:51:52.079 --> 00:51:52.400
Okay.

00:51:52.559 --> 00:51:53.280
And Mrs.

00:51:53.360 --> 00:51:58.000
Bell laid a wreath of laurel leaves inside as a sign of respect.

00:51:58.639 --> 00:52:00.000
Well, it's put in what?

00:52:00.400 --> 00:52:02.320
Um, like um a laurel leaf.

00:52:02.480 --> 00:52:05.199
It's just like a type of leaf um wreath.

00:52:05.840 --> 00:52:17.440
So the American consul sealed the casket and draped it with an American flag, remarking, quote, the flag adopts him already for our country to which he has so belonged in spirit.

00:52:17.679 --> 00:52:24.719
He is now about to receive there a portion of the outward veneration and homage he so supremely merits.

00:52:25.039 --> 00:52:25.440
Homage?

00:52:26.079 --> 00:52:26.559
Homage.

00:52:27.039 --> 00:52:27.760
Homage.

00:52:28.880 --> 00:52:30.000
I like homage.

00:52:31.920 --> 00:52:33.039
It would be homage.

00:52:33.280 --> 00:52:34.079
Homage, yeah.

00:52:34.320 --> 00:52:37.280
Bell ensured that Smithson's final trip was first class.

00:52:37.360 --> 00:52:42.320
He escorted the casket to buy ship to the United States, arriving in Washington, D.C.

00:52:42.639 --> 00:52:44.960
on January 25th, 1904.

00:52:45.199 --> 00:52:45.519
Okay.

00:52:45.760 --> 00:52:49.679
Thanks to Bell's lobbying and his bluff about the president.

00:52:50.079 --> 00:52:54.400
Um, he actually um had a hero's welcome arranged.

00:52:54.639 --> 00:52:54.960
Sure.

00:52:55.119 --> 00:52:55.519
The U.S.

00:52:55.679 --> 00:52:59.599
Navy provided a vessel to carry their remains from New York to Washington.

00:52:59.760 --> 00:52:59.920
Okay.

00:53:00.079 --> 00:53:07.360
And upon arrival, a cavalry unit formed an honor guard procession down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Smithsonian Castle.

00:53:07.599 --> 00:53:08.159
That's funny.

00:53:08.400 --> 00:53:17.199
At the castle, the very institution Smithson's money had built, James Smithson's remains were received with ceremony and placed in a tomb of honor.

00:53:17.519 --> 00:53:23.280
Today, if you enter the Smithsonian Capsule's Castle's main foyer.

00:53:23.760 --> 00:53:24.400
The castle?

00:53:24.639 --> 00:53:26.079
Yeah, the castle's main foyer.

00:53:26.400 --> 00:53:27.280
Not the capsule, okay.

00:53:27.440 --> 00:53:30.719
You'll see a marble sarcophagus against the wall.

00:53:30.960 --> 00:53:31.119
Oh.

00:53:31.360 --> 00:53:34.880
That is Smithson's resting place, complete with memorial inscription.

00:53:35.039 --> 00:53:35.760
Oh, nice.

00:53:35.920 --> 00:53:39.760
His remains are literally entombed in the institution he founded.

00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:40.880
That's fucking awesome.

00:53:40.960 --> 00:53:42.320
I'm glad they did that, honestly.

00:53:42.719 --> 00:53:44.000
I think that was kind of cool.

00:53:44.320 --> 00:53:46.880
It's a a closure to a weird story.

00:53:47.039 --> 00:53:53.119
The man who never set foot in America in life is now permanently in residence in America's National Mall.

00:53:53.360 --> 00:53:53.840
Well, exactly.

00:53:53.920 --> 00:54:03.519
And the thing is, like he, for whatever fucking reason, gifted his fortune to start this thing.

00:54:04.239 --> 00:54:07.360
I feel like they did the right thing and put all those things in the blender.

00:54:07.599 --> 00:54:08.719
Oh, they did an excellent.

00:54:09.039 --> 00:54:12.079
I mean, in hindsight, holy cow, they did an excellent job.

00:54:12.400 --> 00:54:17.360
But I think they did the right thing by bringing him home, if you will.

00:54:17.920 --> 00:54:22.000
Even though yes, he was British, born in France, died in Italy.

00:54:22.239 --> 00:54:27.360
I would think the only other place that he would go would be wherever his nephew is interred.

00:54:27.920 --> 00:54:29.679
Do you you didn't come across that at all?

00:54:30.159 --> 00:54:30.719
I would assume.

00:54:30.960 --> 00:54:32.400
But um I don't know.

00:54:32.480 --> 00:54:36.000
I think that was kind of cool that they did then made a tomb in there and whatever.

00:54:36.159 --> 00:54:36.559
Yeah.

00:54:36.880 --> 00:54:40.239
If I saw that when I went, I know I have no idea.

00:54:41.599 --> 00:54:41.840
Yeah.

00:54:42.000 --> 00:54:43.679
So I kind of want to go back down there.

00:54:43.920 --> 00:54:44.159
I know.

00:54:44.320 --> 00:54:45.519
I want to bring my kids there someday.

00:54:45.840 --> 00:54:46.480
Oh, they would love that.

00:54:46.639 --> 00:54:47.679
Xavier would love that.

00:54:48.079 --> 00:54:48.880
She would love that place.

00:54:49.039 --> 00:54:51.199
I want to be a little a couple years older though.

00:54:51.360 --> 00:54:51.599
Yeah.

00:54:51.760 --> 00:54:54.320
Um, especially because of Espert, but yeah.

00:54:54.559 --> 00:54:58.639
I definitely want to bring the kiddos to uh Smithsonian someday.

00:54:58.800 --> 00:55:00.239
Because I would love to go back as well.

00:55:00.400 --> 00:55:01.679
So as an adult, yeah.

00:55:01.920 --> 00:55:02.159
Yeah.

00:55:02.239 --> 00:55:05.199
Well, that's like even my so like my brother lives in Maine.

00:55:05.360 --> 00:55:09.920
He just was in for the holidays for Christmas, and he wants me to come out and visit him.

00:55:10.000 --> 00:55:11.199
I want to come out and visit him.

00:55:11.519 --> 00:55:15.599
I haven't been so we would have gone to Maine on that same trip when I was 14.

00:55:15.760 --> 00:55:19.360
If I'm remembering the right trip, I could be messed up on it.

00:55:19.519 --> 00:55:19.760
Doesn't matter.

00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:21.440
With your brain, probably not.

00:55:22.000 --> 00:55:25.599
But I'm like, I loved Maine when I was 14.

00:55:25.840 --> 00:55:33.920
I can only imagine how much I'm gonna love it as a fucking adult because I have much more appreciation for the beauty of the landscapes and all that and whatever.

00:55:34.000 --> 00:55:36.559
And I loved it 31 years ago, 32 years ago.

00:55:36.719 --> 00:55:37.760
Fuck I'm old.

00:55:37.920 --> 00:55:38.960
And whatever.

00:55:39.039 --> 00:55:44.239
But, anyways, so I can only imagine like what I would like, how much I would like the Smithsonian too.

00:55:44.400 --> 00:55:49.440
So but yeah, I want to bring the kiddos there, and obviously I'd love to go, so I'm sure I'll have to ask Sarah.

00:55:49.519 --> 00:55:56.880
I guess I don't recall Smithsonian never came up in the in the courtship, so uh I don't know if she's ever been there.

00:55:56.960 --> 00:55:57.760
I'll have to ask her.

00:55:57.840 --> 00:55:59.519
So the courtship.

00:56:00.880 --> 00:56:02.079
Well, I mean, right?

00:56:02.320 --> 00:56:06.079
Okay, so what did you think of our new modello, the red modello?

00:56:06.480 --> 00:56:07.199
I really liked it.

00:56:07.360 --> 00:56:10.480
I really like it too, and I'm so glad you only had one because now I want another one.

00:56:10.719 --> 00:56:12.000
Well, I'm gonna have another one too.

00:56:12.159 --> 00:56:13.679
Yeah, I really like the modello.

00:56:14.239 --> 00:56:18.480
It's it's a little heavier than a classic modello, but it's not like heavy.

00:56:18.719 --> 00:56:19.519
It's not heavy at all.

00:56:19.679 --> 00:56:21.679
And I really like that kind of creamy finish to it.

00:56:21.760 --> 00:56:24.239
Yeah, that the the initial flavor to it.

00:56:24.320 --> 00:56:25.679
It's it's really fucking good.

00:56:25.840 --> 00:56:26.159
Yeah.

00:56:26.400 --> 00:56:30.000
I'm I am glad we've we've came across that.

00:56:30.159 --> 00:56:31.280
Like, let's do this one.

00:56:31.440 --> 00:56:32.000
All right.

00:56:32.159 --> 00:56:39.440
So by the way, the um the book that you got last Christmas, the history book that your in-laws gave you.

00:56:39.599 --> 00:56:40.960
Yeah, that's where I got this story.

00:56:41.119 --> 00:56:41.760
Oh, no way.

00:56:42.159 --> 00:56:43.039
Oh, super cool.

00:56:43.199 --> 00:56:44.000
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:56:44.159 --> 00:56:45.280
It came to fruition.

00:56:45.599 --> 00:56:46.000
Oh, yeah.

00:56:46.239 --> 00:56:46.880
That's awesome.

00:56:47.039 --> 00:56:47.920
That is a cool book.

00:56:48.000 --> 00:56:52.960
I'm glad that you well, I'm glad that you've pretty much had it more than I have because you looked for a lot of people.

00:56:53.280 --> 00:56:54.800
I command I commandeered it.

00:56:54.960 --> 00:56:57.039
I I look through and be like, that's a good story.

00:56:57.119 --> 00:56:58.000
I'll highlight that.

00:56:58.159 --> 00:56:59.920
Or I I dog ear the pages.

00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:01.360
I don't highlight, I dog ear.

00:57:01.760 --> 00:57:02.880
I don't dog ear.

00:57:03.199 --> 00:57:03.760
Do you really?

00:57:03.920 --> 00:57:05.360
I don't dog ear or highlight.

00:57:05.599 --> 00:57:06.239
Tell me the truth.

00:57:06.400 --> 00:57:07.920
I just memorize the page numbers.

00:57:08.159 --> 00:57:09.440
Do you dog ear the pages?

00:57:09.599 --> 00:57:11.280
I dog eared the pages.

00:57:12.079 --> 00:57:13.760
But I didn't highlight in it.

00:57:14.000 --> 00:57:14.480
Well.

00:57:16.559 --> 00:57:20.960
I need to have a conversation with my co-host about how to handle books.

00:57:21.199 --> 00:57:21.519
Yeah.

00:57:21.760 --> 00:57:23.280
So here's a side note.

00:57:23.440 --> 00:57:24.480
I love books.

00:57:24.639 --> 00:57:25.519
I know you do.

00:57:25.760 --> 00:57:29.519
I cannot stand when people dog ear books.

00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:32.639
Okay, give me like 20 bookmarks then.

00:57:33.280 --> 00:57:35.280
How are you gonna f I gotta go?

00:57:36.239 --> 00:57:36.800
Welp.

00:57:37.039 --> 00:57:37.679
I suppose.

00:57:37.920 --> 00:57:38.960
All right, buffoons.

00:57:39.039 --> 00:57:40.320
That's it for today's episode.

00:57:40.639 --> 00:57:44.719
Buckle up because we've got another historical adventure waiting for you next time.

00:57:44.960 --> 00:57:47.119
Feeling hungry for more buffoonery?

00:57:47.280 --> 00:57:52.079
Or maybe you have a burning question or a wild historical theory for us to explore?

00:57:52.239 --> 00:57:53.679
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00:57:53.840 --> 00:57:58.480
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00:57:58.719 --> 00:58:03.039
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00:58:03.119 --> 00:58:06.159
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00:58:06.320 --> 00:58:11.039
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00:58:11.280 --> 00:58:14.559
Until next time, stay curious and don't forget to rate and review us.

00:58:14.800 --> 00:58:17.360
Remember, the buffoonery never stops.