Unforgettable Make a Family Time Capsule

How do you want your children or grandchildren to remember the unprecedented and tumultuous year known as 2020? You can trigger their memories or help them understand the turbulent times that preceded them by creating a time capsule—a time-honored tradition.


People have purposely or inadvertently buried remnants of their era for at least 5,000 years. Think “King Tut”—or “Pompeii.” Artifacts from the past build a sense of what went on, helping answer such questions as: “What things did people use? What were their lives like? How did they feel about their situation?”


Here are two articles to read about time capsule history:
http://web.uvic.ca/vv/student/worddocs/The%20History%20of%20Time%20Capsules.doc


https://www.history.com/tags/time-capsules

you want to build a time capsule for the year 2020, you will need to be both a curator and an archivist. In museums, the former helps choose the objects to be included in an exhibition. The latter oversees the preservation and storage of the objects.

As the curator, you will decide what memories of 2020 you want to preserve for future generations. Your selections will be personal, based on your own experiences, feelings, and philosophy. Here at the Museum of Teaching and Learning, we only encourage you to consider creating a capsule; we don’t want to determine what goes inside. However, here are a few suggestions:

• Artwork that you create specifically for the purpose—a painting, a photograph, a video, a diary, a poem, or a list of predictions about the future;
• A common household item, like a child’s toy—or an uncommon one that tells a story (like a face mask);
• An article from a newspaper or a magazine, along with your personal commentary;
• A political statement—yard sign, hat, or button.

As the archivist, you will decide how best to preserve these elements for future generations. Take into account whether you intend the capsule to last ten years—or a hundred. Here are a few suggestions:

• Consider purchasing a leak-proof stainless steel container (available online);
• If you’d rather use another type of container, consider plastic or archival cardboard—anything that won’t decay quickly and will keep out light, air, and moisture;
• Don’t use tape or glue. Use acid-free paper and wrap artifacts inside the container in individual plastic bags or sleeves (available at hobby stops or special container stores);
• Remember that the electronic retrieval systems of the future may be quite different from those available today (if you unearthed an eight-track tape in your back yard, would you be able to listen to it?).

Other ideas will come to you once you get started. It will, no doubt, be fun to create. It will also be special to open the capsule at the designated time in the future. Don’t forget to label it carefully, make a record of where you put it, and establish when and how your opening ceremony should take place.


Can you already hear your grandchildren saying, “I can’t wait to open that time capsule”?


Prepared by Greta Nagel, MOTAL President and CEO,
With Ronald P. Wolff, retired nonprofit CEO and consultant
Mask photo courtesy of John Rodarte


You may also want to read:
“Recall the Pandemic With a Time Capsule” by Ronda Kayser
The New York Times
October 11, 2020