MOSCOW, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - A 113-year-old time capsule found outside Boston’s Old State House was opened and its contents were revealed by archivists of the Bostonian Society, AP reports.
The shoebox-sized capsule contained letters, newspaper clippings, photographs, political campaign buttons and a presidential message on foreign policy. All the found items will go on public display in the near future.
"You open the box, and it's like they put the stuff in there yesterday. Everything looks like it was just written yesterday," Elizabeth Leet, spokeswoman for the Bostonian Society, told the Boston Globe.
The capsule was found inside a lion statue that has long stood guard atop the Old State House. The box was opened October 9, but the items were not initially removed because of concerns they might be damaged if handled improperly.
The materials were tightly packed inside the container that was sealed to prevent and deterioration and water damage.
A red hardcover book with no visible title surprised the archivists, because it had not been put on a list discovered by an ancestor of a man who worked on the statue, nor was it mentioned in a 1901 newspaper article about the capsule.
When the book was opened, the title was revealed - "Foreign Relations of the United States," followed by the subtitle, "The Annual Message of the President of the United States," transmitted to Congress on Dec. 7, 1896.
Bostonian Society archivists also found a letter sealed into a brown envelope that read "A Message to Posterity from the daily newspapers at City Hall". It is believed to be a missive letter to future generations written by a group of Boston journalists.
Other items in the time capsule included photographs and business cards of local officials along with a nail from the Old South church and a piece of wood.
