The 100th Anniversary Time Capsule

This is part three of a three-part blog regarding campus time capsules. A time capsule contains commemorative material for access at a future date. There have been four known time capsules in the history of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG).

The 100th Anniversary Time Capule

Almost immediately after the fiftieth year “Anniversary Box” was opened in October of 1991, plans were already underway to create another time capsule for the centennial celebrations of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). This time capsule would contain artifacts and memorabilia from 1992 and would be opened in October of 2042 during the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the college. Instead of choosing a plain metal box like the previous time capsule, it was decided that next receptacle would be the winner of a campus-wide design competition. All UNCG students were eligible to enter and were required to manufacture the item, which would not only be functional, but also a work of art. The competition rules required the time capsule to be either two or three dimensional, created of permanent material, and able to be locked. The winner would be announced on October 4, 1991, the opening of the centennial ceremony, and would receive a $750 prize. 

On October 4, 1991, the winner of the competition was announced as Robert E. (Trey) Sharp III, a senior form Winston-Salem, North Carolina, majoring in sculpture and religious studies. Sharp created a spherical ceramic container on a branch-like bronze stand that could be sealed with a bead of wax.

The university also asked for student input as to what would be placed into the capsule to represent the year 1992. Ultimately, it included a message from Chancellor William Moran to UNCG students fifty years in the future, speeches and artifacts associated with the centennial, campus photographs, and university programs and publications. Additionally, it incorporated material that reflected national and international events and concerns such as a piece of the Berlin Wall, AIDS brochures, political memorabilia, and Wilderness magazine containing a list of 500 endangered species. It was decided that the time capsule would be kept in the library and it has remained there ever since it was sealed. It had resided near the access services desk in Jackson Library until recently when it was moved to the second floor of the original library building, outside the doors of the Martha Blakeney Hodges Reading Room - where the history of the university is kept.

The Fiftieth Anniversary Time Capsule

This is part two of a three-part blog regarding campus time capsules. A time capsule contains commemorative material for access at a future date. There have been four known time capsules in the history of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG).



Fiftieth Anniversary Box

The first anniversary time capsule was created during the 1941/1942 school year in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding and the subsequent opening of the college on October 5, 1892. This was an important anniversary that was accompanied by a celebratory year of concerts, lectures, and special visitors. It culminated in the presentation of “We, The Women,” an original play written especially for the occasion. The “Anniversary Box” was a simple green metal container which included items such as messages from Mrs. Lula Martin McIver, wife of founder and first president Charles Duncan McIver; Dr. Walter Clinton Jackson, Dean of Administration and later Chancellor, as well as student essays. It also included college publications, artifacts, textiles, and anniversary programs. An especially interesting artifact was a Havilland demitasse cup and saucer, which had been purchased in 1892, the year that the school opened.



Havilland demitasse cup and saucer, 1892 

Although the year brought excitement and special events, everyone on campus was very aware that the country was in the midst of a world war, and materials related to the war were also included in the capsule. The final convocation was held on October 6, 1942, and it was at this event that the Anniversary Box was officially packed and locked. Dr. Jackson captured the spirit of the day by his inspiring words, “We here proclaim our devout hope that those who look back from 1992 will give thanks to us for our labor and will take from our hands our banner of ‘SERVICE’ and carry it to greater heights.” As directed, the Anniversary Box was opened fifty years later to commemorate the one hundredth year of the school’s opening. The contents were displayed in Jackson Library within an exhibit commemorating the capsule and life on campus during World War II.

An article written for The Carolinian in February of 1942 looked even further into the future when it advised, “We must have the strength and foresight to prepare another fifty years for the next generation, not reveling in the satisfaction of past glory but looking to a more glorious 100th anniversary.”