When Sidedoor listener Cliff Hall bought a used violin, he found a tattered note tucked alongside the century-old instrument. Obsessed with this cryptic piece of paper, Cliff’s quest to find the owner of the violin unlocked a tale of subterfuge, scandal, and the Smithsonian’s first donation of rare instruments.

Guests: Deborah Shapiro, reference archivist at the Smithsonian Institution Archives, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives

Cliff Hall, violin teacher and freelance journalist

Kenneth Slowik, curator of the musical instrument collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History; artistic director of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society