The Bostonian Society held a presentation for the public Wednesday at the Old Massachusetts State House to showcase the contents of the time capsule recently found in one of the building’s adornments. PHOTO BY EVAN JONES/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The Bostonian Society showcased contents of the recently discovered century-old time capsule Wednesday morning at the Massachusetts Old State House, the location where the time capsule was originally found.
The 46 contents were preserved inside the time capsule for 113 years, since 1901, and included letters, plates, cabinet cards, newspapers and books.
“I was most excited about the overall condition of these materials,” said Elizabeth Roscio, library and archive manager of The Bostonian Society. “I was expecting the worst, but everything is really in a remarkable condition.”
These contents were placed in acid-free folders and turned into scans and photographs to keep in The Bostonian Society’s archives, according to a Wednesday press release.
The time capsule was discovered Sept. 22 and was first opened at a private ceremony on Oct. 9 in Woburn. The materials were found in the head of the statue lion on the Old State House.
The contents are believed to represent Boston in the year 1900, as the time capsule included issues and advertisement rates from The Boston Daily Globe, The Boston Herald and The Boston Post from that year, as well as political campaign buttons.
A portion of the contents, including sealed letters, one of which was titled, “A message to posterity from the daily newspapers at City Hall,” remain a mystery, Roscio said, because The Bostonian Society had discovered the time capsule only recently.
“We’re in the process of preparing a temporary exhibit, so a selection of the [letters] will come out for about two months,” she said. “We’re not sure of the specific date yet because we are still figuring it out.”
Brian LeMay, president and executive director of The Bostonian Society, said he found certain contents of the time capsule to be fascinating.
“One thing I think that’s interesting, in combination particularly with the volume of the foreign affairs records, is the campaign buttons, because they represent the political condition at that time,” LeMay said.
The Bostonian Society is planning to make a new time capsule this year, said Heather Leet, director of development of The Bostonian Society, who is leading the production of the 2014 time capsule to replace the old one. The Society has already received recommendations for its contents.
“We’ve gotten a lot of suggestions from the general public on what should go in,” Leet said. “We do know that we’re going to put in a medal from the 2013 Boston Marathon. We’ve asked the mayor for a letter and a photograph, and we are going to ask the governor if he would send us a letter.”
The public has discussed suggestions through The Bostonian Society’s Facebook Group and Twitter, and many people proposed that an iPhone 6 be included in the time capsule. The public input will be closed at the end of October with the intention of finishing the new time capsule before Thanksgiving.
Attendees at the showcase said they were excited to see what was in the time capsule and have ideas for what should go in this year’s capsule.
“I definitely think they should put newspapers in it or things that are going on in the world,” said Marina Moriarty, 18, of Back Bay. “That way they know how we feel during it and what is going on.”
Nancy Centers, 49, of Brockton, said it was interesting to think of people keeping records during the early 19th century.
“It’s interesting that people thought enough, at that time, to keep a record of what was going on,” she said.
Brandy Barents, of Cambridge and an organizational behavior professor at Boston University’s School of Management, said she agrees that making a new time capsule would be a good investment for future generations.
“I would think there should be stuff about the Boston [Marathon] bombings and about the former mayor [Thomas Menino] and the long run that he had,” Barents said. “I think they should put things representing Boston.”