Living in the Washington DC area, it isn’t a complete surprise when Hollywood graces a visit. However, the cameras are normally focused on the White House or the CIA.
That is not the case however, in an upcoming episode of the reality show, “Strange Inheritance” on Fox Business Network. In the show host and news anchor, Jamie Colby, takes viewers across America learning about acquired items.
“So oftentimes the people who inherit these things just think of them as stuff and they end up being very rich in history or texture or financially incredibly rewarding, although it’s not always about the money. A lot of these families just want to preserve the legacy of a loved one,” Colby said.
Over the course of 50 episodes, Colby has seen items from a Frontier Ford, which was abandoned during the Civil War to a rare nickel worth three and a half million dollars. “Strange Inheritance,” also tells the story of the person who left the possession behind.
“This takes me a generation or two back often time to learn how we got here. And a lot of these items tell a story. Like the bloody Civil War sleeve that ended up being General Pickett’s. It took me back to fifth grade history class of Pickett’s Charge. We ended up meeting his great great great grandson who was embarrassed to be a Pickett because Pickett’s Charge led to the death of so many soldiers. But in the end it wasn’t horrible to be a Pickett when we really researched the history of his relatives.”
The episode airing on the television network tonight, brought Colby’s 200 days on the road to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly; colloquially known as the “other” Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
But the story actually started in Los Angeles, California, with a lawyer, Rick, who had just met the love of his life, Shelley, on an online dating site and his love of space.
“They met, fell in love, and then he got sick, very sick. ... Little does she know, as he becomes ill, she begins to catalogue all of the space items he has. He has a control panel from a mission, he’s got test capsules; he’s got all kinds of things,” Colby explained. “What he really valued the most was this Hasselblad camera, which it was reconfigured to be able to withstand space. He takes it up with him, [astronaut Wally] Schirra does. Then Gordon Cooper who’s on the Mercury Atlas 9, he takes a camera [as well].”
The attorney in the show dies. Before this however, while on his deathbed, Rick contacts a friend of his who is an auctioneer in Boston. Colby described that Rick had a warehouse of space valuables from signed photos to flags that were in space, but these cameras not only did he value the most, he thought they were probably the most valuable.
“Rick says ‘I want to sell this camera I think it’s the most valuable thing in my collection and I want to provide for [his fiancée at the time].’ He’s on the phone in the hospital listening to the sale of the camera, and it sells for way more than he could ever imagine,” she said. “Then Shelley is left to go through everything else and she has to have the camera authenticated. There’s a surprise to the authentication process of [Gordon Cooper’s] camera that went to space, I’m not going to tell you. I can’t give it all away.”
The camera was ultimately bought by a private buyer in the UK. In order to learn more about the cameras in space travel Colby and her team talked to Dr. Jennifer Levasseur. Although she was not involved in the authentication of the camera, she runs the Human Spaceflight Cameras and Astronaut Personal Equipment collection at the Udvar-Hazy Center. Levasseur also wrote her dissertation on astronaut photography.
“We couldn’t have made the episode without [Levasseur’s] expertise and knowing what we were talking about [on the show]. It’s really wonderful of her to take the time to talk to us and tell us what we had and what she had in her curated collection at the museum,” Colby said.
Levasseur showed Colby the collection of cameras at the museum and explained the importance of the photography in space and how they can be used and withstand the high pressures of it.
“I just love the space program. I think it’s a great accomplishment for our country and this is a very patriotic episode, that really talks about one little boy’s love for space and gives this gift to not only us but to this women he loves so dearly but didn’t live to enjoy,” Colby said.
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