by Janine Eduljee
From a Boston Marathon medal to a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card, suggestions have been pouring into Twitter about items that should be placed in a new time capsule to replace the one recently unearthed in the Old State House.
People from all over Boston have tweeted recommendations to the Bostonian Society about what they think would best represent the city and this generation.
“We were surprised by how much the time capsule — both the old one and new one –caught people’s attention,” said Heather Leet, director of development for the Bostonian Society, the city’s historical society and operator of the Old State House Museum. “It has been fun to read what people think represents our current time period.”
Leet said the society has received hundreds of suggestions, via social media and email. The group plans to tally which items get the most votes, for possible placement in the capsule. Already, the iPhone 6 appears to be a popular suggestion.
Other frequently mentioned items include Red Sox memorabilia (with some people going so far as to suggest dirt from Fenway Park), Boston Marathon mementos, and food from popular local restaurants. And many believe a Boston time capsule could not be complete without a nod to New England’s most popular export, Dunkin’ Donuts.
Twitter suggestions range from the comic (Robbin Graves tweeted: “A chart showing skyrocketing Boston rents in the past ten years”), to the sincere (Asteroid Initiatives posted a picture of a patch from the OSIRIS Rex asteroid sample return mission, which involved local Bostonians). Also on the list: a can of beans, a CD compilation of today’s popular music, and maps of the city.
According to Leet, one item has already been selected to go inside the time capsule: A 2013 Boston Marathon medal, offered by a local resident, Greg Soutiea. Leet said the Bostonian Society accepted it as a symbol of “a historically significant event.”
Soutiea said that he was fascinated by the idea of the time capsule, and was more than happy to relinquish his piece of history.
“I was there, and I saw the bombs go off,” Soutiea recalled. “I had a great race that day. It was one of the fastest runs I’ve ever run, and it was my first Boston Marathon, as well… so the medal is very significant to me personally. But when they said they wanted it, I was happy to hand it over and let it be part of Boston history.”
Soutiea said he likes the idea of leaving behind a kind of legacy by participating in the time capsule project.
“I thought it was important that the story be heard in the future, and that people remember that,” he explained.
So far, only the medal and a photo of Mayor Marty Walsh (which someone on Twitter suggested should be a “selfie”), have been confirmed for inclusion in the new capsule.
Ultimately, the final list of items will be decided by a group of Bostonian Society staff and board members.
“We have historians on staff, so we thought they were the kind of people who should make that decision,” Leet explained.
This story was produced in partnership with the Northeastern University School of Journalism.