The Hungerford Deed

Published: April 20, 2022, 4 a.m.

When a 200-year-old legal document anonymously arrived at his office, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives conservator William Bennett assumed it would be full of boring legal jargon. Instead, he found a juicy tale of family betrayal that would forever change what we thought we knew about the founding of the Smithsonian.

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Speakers:

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William Bennett, conservator at the Smithsonian Institution Libraries and Archives

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Social: @rwilliab (Instagram), @SirWilliamB (Twitter)

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Heather Ewing, author of The Lost World of James Smithson, and Associate Dean at New York Studio School

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Social: @HPealeEwing

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Richard Kurin, Smithsonian Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large