Text by Kim Green; illustrations by Ćivind Hovland
As 91ĢĘ²®»¢ began renovating Kirkland Hall in 2022 in anticipation of the Sesquicentennial celebration, a tantalizing piece of history awaited construction crews. In its cornerstone was a time capsule, interred in 1874 when the building was still known as āthe Main Building.ā Shortly before the capsule was exhumed and opened this winter, University Archivist Kathleen Smith shared her excitementāand apprehension: āYou donāt know what condition the materials will be in.ā
Smith knew what was inside, thanks to a newspaper article of that era. Those objects highlighted what the university community valued so soon after 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās founding: a Bible and a hymnal, newspapers and church circulars, and a copy of Cornelius 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās original donation papers.
When the capsule was opened in late February, Smith was disappointed to find that the copper box had been infiltrated by an archivistās worst enemies: water and mold. āThe paper items are almost a complete loss,ā she says. Sheās now part of the team working to salvage some of the contents.
Itās a painful but useful object lesson for preservationists planning a time capsule for Kirklandās new cornerstone. But to Vice Provost for Arts and Libraries Tracy Denean Sharpley-Whiting, Kirkland itself is a time capsule: Itās a beautiful, stately structure that embodied the foundersā hopes for the university 150 years ago. āBut itās leaky. Itās not ADA-compliant,ā she says. The updated Kirkland will retain its venerable elegance while honoring modern priorities of functionality and accessibility. āKirkland is representative of this time capsule,ā she saysāsimultaneously preserving history and looking ahead.
Sharpley-Whiting says that the grand sweep of aspirations across time is exactly what a capsule should communicate. So as she, Smith and University Librarian Jon Shaw work together to design a time capsule that will convey a message to the future university community, they share tips about how to create your own.
1. Location, location, location
Choose a location where the time capsule is likely to be found. Enclosing it in a building thatās treasured by a community or an institutionāand thus, likely to be renovated instead of demolishedāwill increase the odds it will be opened one day by the audience you have in mind.
Keep the capsule in a cool, dry, stable environment, safe from water and too much light exposure. ā[In Kirkland] theyāre going to use a new cornerstone,ā Smith says. āSo hopefully itāll be protected from the elements.ā
2. The container matters
The capsule should be made of chemically inert materials such as stainless steel, aluminum or uncoated polyethylene. It should seal tightlyāusually with a screw top and rubber gasketāto keep out water, light and dirt.
Inside the container, you can package like items together in smaller, inert containers such as acid-free paper envelopes or uncoated PET zip-closure bags.
3. Be mindful of materials
Choose items that will last for 100 years or more. Smith suggests that printed materials be on high-quality, acid-free paper whenever possible. Paper made with wood pulp, such as newsprint or mid-century pulp novels, contains acid that will break down the paper over time. āSurround things that arenāt acid-free on either side with acid-free paper,ā she advises. Also, black-and-white photographs survive better than color photos. Consider choosing analog media over electronicāpeople of the future might not have the equipment to read a zip drive.
4. Tell a story
Shaw envisions a collection of things that would portray the universityās evolutionāand its aspirations. To represent the past, heād want to incorporate something like a facsimile of āCornelius 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās letter talking about the reunification of the country, and how 91ĢĘ²®»¢ is supposed to be this place to bring both sides together.ā Shaw and Sharpley-Whiting point out that 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās growth into an inclusive institution with global reach far exceeds the vision the founders had 150 years ago, in the fractured, post-Civil War milieu they inhabited. āThey would be astounded,ā Sharpley-Whiting says. āItās important for us to give a sense of how far weāve come.ā
She hopes to include items that capture a broad swath of present-day university culture; e.g., student newspapers, trusteesā minutes, campus maps and photographs of student life. That culture is inherently forward-looking because 91ĢĘ²®»¢ is āin the business of ideas and innovation,ā Sharpley-Whiting says. āWe help shape future leaders.ā
Building on this idea, Shaw envisions another way the capsule might highlight 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās future: enclosing a āstudentās narrative or a penned letter to the future of what they can imagine that future being,ā he says. āReading about that 100 years from now would really give a sense of āWhere do we think weāre going?āā
The condition of the contents in the time capsule interred in Kirkland Hallās cornerstone and opened in February emphasizes the importance of using a waterproof container for housing important documents and objects.
Watch a video about 91ĢĘ²®»¢’s time capsules at .
Visit to suggest items to include in the new time capsule.