Contents of time capsule

Annie Armour <aarmour<-a t->sewanee< . >edu> writes

>... A nearby church dug up their time
>capsule for their centennial celebration.
>... The contents (of which they have a list) are mostly caked
>together in one big blob, though some coins and pins and three paper
>items are ok. We made photocopies of those three things.
>
>They want to place these items into their new time capsule, along
>with some new items.  They want our "expert" advice.

We unearthed (literally) a time capsule during the restoration of
the Verdi Monument in NYC.  It was a lead pipe approximately 6
inches in diameter soldered closed at either end with a screw cap
fitted to one end.  One of the lead seals had failed.  When we
opened it however we found that most of the material from 1905 was
still in good shape:  10 copies of a dedication date Italian
American newspaper, a list of the names of the members of the
committee that sponsored the monument, a painted commemorative
scroll and a collection of coins.  We copied all of the material,
made a list of the items. transported all of the items but 1 of the
newspapers and the coins to the Municipal Archives which has a small
but growing collection of time capsule contents.  We then reburied
the list, copies, 1 newspaper and coins packed into separate zip
lock bags in the original lead container repaired and re-sealed.  We
added information on the monument restoration and b&w photographs to
the other items before resealing. We also could find no policy re
proper procedures for time capsule items although it did spark a
lively discussion with my son over whether we should keep the coins
(particularly the gold ones) (we did not.)  The focus of the
discussion was for whom the material was intended and where best
should it be preserved. I think that the context (buried under the
structure) is probably of equal or greater value than the actual
contents, gold coins aside.

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:47
                Distributed: Tuesday, November 25, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-47-005
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