For Immediate Release
December 13, 1999
Contact: Sarah Grolnic-McClurg
413-538-2030
TIME CAPSULE FROM 1900
AWAITS YEAR 2000 OPENING AT MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE:
Locked, Solid Wood Box with Brass Plaque Holds Messages for the Class of 2000 from the Graduates of 1900
South Hadley, MA -- Awaiting an opening ceremony in the year 2000 is a time capsule from 1900 left for the graduating class of 2000 at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. A small, solid wood box, the time capsule was featured in the commencement exercises of the class of 1900.
About the size of a bread box, the time capsule is currently housed in the College archives and will be opened at a ceremony to be held in the new millennium. At their 50th reunion, the class of 1900 entrusted the capsule to the class of 1950. In 1967, the time capsule was moved from a vault in the College's library to a vault in the comptroller's office. In 1988, it was moved to the archives.
The time capsule is inscribed with the following on its cover:
To the Class of 2000
Mount Holyoke College
a legacy from
the Class of 1900
to be opened at graduation
in the year 2000
Class officers for the graduating class of 2000 at the women's college have formed a committee to decide upon a fitting ceremony for the opening of the time capsule. It is hoped that descendants from the class of 1900 will be in attendance. The ceremony's date has not yet been set, although it will be held some time before May 2000.
The College is in possession of a copy of one item that is known to be in the box -- a newspaper article written by a member of the class of 1900 to the class of 2000. The author of the article offers advice and congratulations to the members of the class of 2000, noting the bonds between the two classes. The letter also offers insight into the contents of the capsule, including a picture left "for [the] amusement" of the class of 2000.
Founded in 1837, Mount Holyoke is the oldest institution of higher education for women in the United States.
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