Century-old time capsule opened

After 100 years, Western attempted to uncover a time capsule underneath the 1912 stone outside of Old Main. What they uncovered surprised everyone.
They found an empty hole where an artifact from the past should have been. Further investigation revealed the true location of the capsule from 1912.
After finding nothing below the 1912 stone and a capsule beneath 1913, the stones were moved to the facilities management garage. The grounds crew brought up something that raised the eyebrows of many — the 1912 stone was about 15 pounds lighter than the 1913 one.

On Feb. 9, archaeologists gathered in the garage to carefully open what remained of both the 1912 and 1913 capsules.

Western’s Outdoor Maintenance supervisor Gary Hodge and others tapped on the lighter 1912 stone. The stone sounded hollow.

After strategizing with the archaeology professors at the event, the grounds crew decided to drill and cut a grid into the 1912 slab. After drilling multiple three-quarter inch holes and sawing off chunks, the workers pried off a layer of cement from the bottom.

The crew found a tin box wrapped in plastic bags.

When the walkway outside of Old Main was redone in the 1980s, the 1912 and 1913 time capsules were wrapped in plastic bags and cement was poured around them.

Both were tin boxes, soldered shut, with holes in them from spending nearly 100 years in the ground. The archaeologists weren’t expecting to find much.

At the event, a display showed how Western has buried recent time capsules. Artifacts from the present are placed in PVC tubes and glued shut. The glue used to seal them melts the plastic together, forming an airtight bond. It is unclear if they will stand the test of time better than the tin boxes found.

Associate professor of anthropology Todd Koetje cut away the plastic and tin to see what remained inside the boxes. At first, the only thing revealed was debris — rotted matter, rusted tin and soil.

While pulling the contents out of the box, Koetje and fellow Western anthropology professor Sarah Campbell found pieces of what they thought to be paper. Magnifying glass in hand, Campbell found letters typed on the paper.

Although the letters couldn’t be made out, the paper was a sign of something that had been buried.

After curators and documentarians assess the findings, Western plans to have them on display for students to see.

“We may still be able to find out exactly what this is,” Campbell said.

According to research conducted after the first attempt by Daniel Boxberger, chair of Western’s anthropology department, to locate the capsule, time capsules in tin boxes from the late 1800s and early 1900s are generally found in very poor condition. Although the 1912 capsule was completely encased in cement for the past two decades, the 70-odd years prior had taken their toll on whatever was in the box.

As the first attempt didn’t uncover the capsule, the crew took to pounding on the cement slab with a dig bar — a long, metal pole used for prying and smashing. Sparks and chunks of cement flew out of the hole, but nothing was found.

It was only then that Boxberger brought up a fascinating and important historical fact.

“There was never mention of a time capsule being buried in 1912,” he said. “We have secondary sources who say that is the year it started, but no record of one ever existing.”

Western special collections manager Tamara Belts was able to confirm this fact. She said every year a time capsule or stone has been placed, a record has been made. But Belts has not been able to find any record in any publication or archive of such a capsule being placed in 1912.



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