When copper statues of a gold lion and silver unicorn were installed above Boston’s Old State House in 1901, the majestic creatures weren’t the only objects left for posterity. Inside the lion’s head was a sealed copper box filled with “things that will prove interesting when the box is opened many years hence,” wrote The Boston Globe at the time.
The future is now. Earlier this month the lion and unicorn sculptures—emblems representing the building’s colonial era role as the seat of royal authority—were successfully removed from its east façade for restoration, The Globe reported. This week at Skylight Studios in Woburn, MA, sculptor and conservator Robert Shure, who’s been tasked with the sculptures’ restoration, confirmed using a fiber optic camera that the time capsule—about the size of a shoebox—was, indeed, secure inside the lion’s head.
The Bostonian Society, the group that has overseen the Old State House’s preservation since 1881, learned about the time capsule several years ago after a descendant of the original sculptor found a letter revealing its existence and detailing the contents. Further research uncovered a 1901 article from The Boston Globe reporting the sculptures’ installation and outlining the capsule’s contents, which include such items as: photographs and autographs of city and state officials, a city map, a synopsis of current news and copies of local daily newspapers, letters from prominent Bostonians and journalists, McKinley and Roosevelt campaign buttons, and photographs of the lion and the unicorn taken by the sculptor.
An archivist will be present to attend to the time capsule’s contents upon recovery. The Bostonian Society will display the artifacts, once processed, in the Old State House museum this fall.
The Bostonian Society is currently soliciting ideas for a 2014 time capsule that will be returned to the lion’s head and reinstalled on the Old State House following restoration. (It can join Katie Paterson’s Future Library, which we reported on recently, in the 22nd century!) Planned contents include a photo of Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh and copies of the 1901 artifacts. Further ideas can be sent to the Society via email, Facebook, or Twitter using the hashtag #LionAndUnicorn.
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