Keegan-Michael Key reads a letter from the Smithsonian to a man donating 'artefacts' from his garden

Legend has it that in 1994, a letter was sent by the Smithsonian Institute to a man who regularly and very kindly donated artefacts discovered in his back garden.

Actor, comedian and producer Keegan-Michael Key joined us to read this rather special letter at London's Royal Albert Hall in October 2021.

[joshgrobleck]

He wasn’t there in the days when the land clams roamed. He didn’t know the fear, the deep rumbling of grinding teeth in the distant horizon of a harsh land.

[gnocchidokie]

I would absolutely pay full price to see a "denied specimens" exhibit at any and every museum

[sicktodeath_]

The staff at the Smithsonian are a truly wonderful bunch of people. My father donated a box of fossils that he had collected in Oregon, to the Smithsonian. The staff gave him a tour through their fossil archives then they took my parents out on a dinner cruise to thank him. As a lifelong amateur fossil hunter, that was possibly the highlight of his paleontological career.
♥️✌️

[realityjunky]

I applaud the Smithsonian. I worked in a Museum for twenty years and I was one of the few who took time to meet the walk-ins, identify their object, then tell then why it wasn't what they hoped it was. It was best if I showed them an example from our collection and let them see for themselves why their item was different. But I always encouraged their curiosity and enthusiasm. I was never dismissive because that will sour a person's view of science immediately. Privately, I was dismayed at how many people were hoping their item was worth money.

[FabianMacGintyONeill]

If you can tell someone they're completely and utterly wrong in a way that doesn't make them feel bad, you are a master diplomat

[lskulski]

As a museum worker, I can confirm almost every museum in the world has at least one story like this.

[TulipIris]

I worked in an archaeology lab in graduate school. One day an old man called insisting that we send someone over to his house because he had a live dinosaur trapped in his back yard. Archaeologists typically don’t work with dinosaurs (that’s paleontology), but he was so frantic, we decided to check it out. We got in the old suburban and headed over. Turns out it was an armadillo. At the time, it was highly unusual for armadillos to be in this particular part of the state.

[lindaliriel]

My uncle-in-law has over an acre of land, in an area near a known Roman settlement. He kept finding random stuff while gardening (or dug up by his dogs) be it coins, bits of pottery and various odds and ends; he figured they were all likely trash, but took them to the local museum just in case. Now he has a whole cabinet dedicated to him in the museum. Never took any money

[jackiesue]

I love this. I want to see an inventory of his "contributions".

[chrisgatton]

I have a friend who wrote them a serious-sounding letter inquiring as to whether they had "Dillinger's pecker in a jar, " because he was trying to decide whether to take his family to visit the Smithsonian or the Grand Canyon for their summer vacation. He stated that would be the deciding factor. They wrote a letter explaining that, although they did not have any of Dillinger's body parts in jars, they still thought they were a superior destination to the Grand Canyon, and went on to explain why.

[dannymorris]

Years ago I worked in the Museum Of American History. One item in the collections, a hammer head, came from a donor who did his research. He claimed that he found the hammer head in a load of coal. Based on the age of the coal and where it had been mined the hammer was "the original hammer of God." He was sent the usual thank you form letter and the item probably still sits in the collections of Mechanical and Civil Engineering.

[eleanorharvey]

This is, absolutely, the best spoof letter ever written. I cherish my mimeographed, then copied and distributed so many times, copy of this. I have no idea where it originated, but it's been making the rounds for decades now. It's a Smithsonian urban legend, as the museum, department, and purported staffers do not actually exist. But we are magnets for this kind of love, and the letter is proof that as Smithsonian employees, we love it, too.

[houseofdogatx]

Imagine that the person who submitted the “specimen” was a child. Imagine the joy it would bring them to receive such a letter in response, feeling that their “discovery” had been taken seriously. Imagine the impact such a small act of kindness would have on a young mind, encouraging curiosity, analysis, skepticism, as opposed to the defeat that comes with a rude denial or dismissal, or no response at all. I have no idea if this is the case… but I’m going to pretend that it is.

[chillchinna]

I would absolutely pay 20 dollars to see an exhibit of this man’s work, and accompanied explanations.

[emilyz]

The letter was actually written as a humor piece, and isn't real, but I freakin' love it. And I think there needs to be a movie about rampaging prehistoric clam monsters with teeth.

[cacampbell]

Key did an almost perfect job of staying in the incredible humour and outrageousness of this letter’s subjects, without belittling, patronizing, condescending to the author!
No mean feat!!

[archygirl]

As an archaeologist, I am constantly besieged by "artifacts" from neighbors, friends, relatives, people in stores, complete strangers. I applaud the Smithsonian for their sweet letter, and the lessons therein. The challenge is real. There is a fine line between compassion and sarcasm.

[lindascott]

When we were doing research in Peru, local people reported every ruin as an "Inka pyramid." Some of them were fascinating in their own historical right -- old missions and convents, pre-Inka Moche or Chimu sites, etc. People get excited about something they've been thinking about and come up with explanations. That said, people should always be encouraged to reach out and share with/learn from professionals. I think it's a positive thing that some people share their finds instead of hoarding "treasure."

[trillium..]

His delivery is spot on, from his tones to his facial expressions and body language. Well done!

[chrisball]

I once had a job where I was the main public point of contact for a small organisation. During my time there, I got a few emails I thought were probably pranks, but wasn't 100% certain weren't written by someone truly deluded. I was expected to reply politely to every email, so had to create these carefully-worded responses that took their wacky email at face-value so I didn't come across as mocking them if they were serious. That's what I thought of watching this.