1968 – The Lost Time Capsule

Mr. Paul Hudson, Director

International Time Capsule Society

Oglethorpe University

4484 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30319

Dear Mr. Hudson:

I write to apply for membership in the International Time Capsule Society. I am new to the study of time capsules, but since I heard about the International Time Capsule Society and its dedication to the study of the history of time capsules, I've made it a point to learn more about time capsules.

For example, there's a mention of one in the Epic of Gilgamesh which, I understand, was a best seller among ancient Mesopotamians some 4,000 years ago. I hope to read it someday.

I also learned that during the 1939 World’s Fair, Westinghouse buried a time capsule to be opened 5,000 years in the future. Sealed in a 90' corrosion resistant "cupalloy" metal rocket-shaped cylinder were common everyday artifacts, a newsreel, and microfilm versions of the encyclopedia, a dictionary and the entire 1939 Sears & Roebuck mail-order catalog. That should impress the humans of the year 6939, assuming they haven't already evolved beyond human form to become glowing balls of mental energy.

And I learned that on July 4, 1976, President Gerald Ford was set to seal a bicentennial time capsule in a formal ceremony at Valley Forge, PA when someone stole it out of an unattended van and walked away with it. That's just plain embarrassing.

I know all about the most ambitious time capsule of them all, the Crypt of Civilization, located at Oglethorpe U by Thomas Jacobs, considered the modern father of the time capsule. The Crypt, sealed in 1940, contains a swimming pool sized collection of artifacts, literature and even a set of Lincoln Logs to be opened in 8113. I only wish I could be there to see that.

Since discovering the International Time Capsule Society and its distinguished founders, all prestigious authors of books and magazine articles about time capsules, I want to learn even more about time capsules. If it is at all possible, I want to be a member of the International Time Capsule Society in the missing time capsules department.

I know that the Society keeps a registry of known time capsules and, in 1991, issued a list of the ten most wanted time capsules -- capsules famous for being lost. And through those efforts, the Washington State Territorial Centennial Time Capsule was found in 2002 after being lost since 1953 when the Legislature paid for the burial of the time capsule but failed to fund the marker.

The missing time capsules department is where I think I can be useful because I know of a missing time capsule in my own home town -- the City of Santa Fe. And I hope that, after you hear this story, you will consider adding the 1867 Santa Fe Time Capsule to your ten most wanted list.

It seems that sometime in October 1867, the City of Santa Fe in cooperation with the local Masonic lodge buried a time capsule somewhere under the plaza. The newspapers of the time reported that the capsule contained coins, seals and copies of local newspapers, the territorial laws, and a copy of the United States Constitution. The time capsule was to be opened a hundred years in the future.

But, through some oversight, the 100^th anniversary year – 1967 - went by without anyone noticing. It wasn’t until a year later in 1968 that the Old Santa Fe Association asked for permission to look for the time capsule. With the City’s blessing, the Association hired some scientists from Los Alamos to use state of the art technology to detect the capsule’s location. The scientists set up their gizmos on the plaza and prepared to subject it to magnetic waves, gamma rays, X-rays and other rays they apparently had laying about.

But the scientists already had a good clue exactly where to look. Centuries ago, the Masons developed an elaborate ceremony for the installation of corner stones and a precise protocol for burying their time capsules. The Masons invariably buried their time capsules in the northeast corner of a monument. Since the local Masonic Lodge had collaborated with the city in the sealing of the time capsule, the scientists began their search at the Soldier’s Monument in the center of the Plaza. Their instruments quickly detected a cavity exactly under the northeast corner. But the instruments could not tell what was in it.

The City Council permitted a crew, under the direction of noted architect John Gaw Meem, to excavate in that area. After several days of digging, nothing turned up and Meem prepared to close up the dig and report failure.

But one City Councilor decided to continue the project on his own. In broad daylight, Councilor Lee Rubinstein and his excavation crew (which consisted of two guys from his neighborhood) began shoveling away under the northeast corner of the monument on the Plaza. Apparently, the digging went on quite a while before someone from the City noticed and put a stop to it. While Rubenstein had produced an impressive hole in the Plaza, he had unearthed no time capsule.

Rubenstein told the papers that he thought he was just doing his duty as a councilman by finishing the job left undone by John Gaw Meem. This explanation did not sit well with the public or with his fellow city council members. At a hastily called meeting, an angry City Council learned from the city’s engineers that Rubenstein’s unauthorized excavation posed an imminent danger to the stability of the Soldier’s monument. The prospect of the beloved obelisk toppling over after more than 100 years on the job electrified the Council, which promptly ordered the immediate repair of the monument with a crew directed by John Gaw Meem, all at Rubenstein’s expense. Councilman Rubenstein groused but agreed. A day later, the monument on the Plaza was intact and upright, firmly planted in cement.

In all the excitement over Rubenstein's shenanigans, the time capsule was forgotten and the mystery of the 1867 Santa Fe Time Capsule has never been solved.

Perhaps, if my application for membership in the International Time Capsule Society is favorably considered, I might be invited to the next regular meeting to address the members on this historical curiosity.

I await your decision and until then, I intend to put to good use your valuable "Eight Tips for Organizing a Time Capsule" on my own time capsule project. I'm starting just as soon as I can find some cupalloy.

Hoping to Join You Soon!