Listing of Time Capsule Contents
What would you put in a time capsule?
When the founders of the Health Science Center put together their historic capsule, they tried to think of materials that represented the most important and influential materials documenting the planning process for the center, and materials that would, at some point in the future, allow for dating of the materials and the building. They lived in a time- 1955-when radioactivity seemed the wave of the future, when it offered unlimited promise for medical research and healing, so they included facilities for radioactive research in their plans and a radioactive vial in their time capsule. They knew, perhaps, that their efforts were indeed unprecedented, and visionary and took seriously the job of passing on to a distant posterity the scope of their efforts.
Today, with the Health Center firmly, indeed monumentally established, we may approach the generation of a time capsule a little differently. Now we want to document for future generations the ebb and flow of everyday life. What is it like to come to work everyday? What do we need to make the journey through the hallways, to communicate with co-workers, keep track of time? What events preoccupy us? What pieces of information are unique to our time- and likely to have changed dramatically in 50 years? What do we- or our children- collect in our off-hours? How do we fund our projects, conduct research, treat our patients? What treatment is most likely to have changed radically by 2056?
Now, our ideas about what should go into the time capsule not only provide a picture of our lives today but also represent our predictions as to how life will change and what will be most dramatically different.
To capture the moment amid the upcoming 50 th anniversary celebrations, the College of Nursing, College of Medicine, Health Center Library, and Health Science Center are planning to create time capsules. They are actively seeking suggestions for objects to go into the capsule and the committees will weigh suggestions and select a range of materials for preservation. Please send in suggestions and include the reason why you think your suggestion captures an important and perhaps unique part of everyday life!
