Digging up the past: 1956 time capsule opened, re-buried
April 29, 2014
By Will Wright
Early Monday afternoon, a crew of three construction workers stood in the rain, waiting to put a time capsule in a hole between the Woodland Glen I and II residence halls.
In September 2013, a construction worker near the same location found a old, rusted box wrapped in a green oilcloth. The box turned out to be a time capsule from September 1956, hidden for more than 57 years under the Cooperstown residence halls.
University administration decided to make a new time capsule, not to be opened for 50 years.
Crews will place a plaque on the site where the capsule was buried, said Robby Arrasmith, a senior project manager at the Woodland Glen construction site. The plaque will invite the Class of 2064 to open the capsule and enjoy their “Wildcat roots,” according to a press release.
There are no records indicating who buried the time capsule from 1956.
The box included a Lexington phone book, a course catalog, a campus map and a copy of the Lexington Herald, among other things.
Documents like a shorter course catalog illustrate the change in the size of UK’s campus, said UK president Eli Capilouto, adding that the new time capsule will likely document a similar change.
“In 2064, when this capsule is unearthed, this campus will be a (very) different place,” Capilouto said.
The 2014 time capsule contains all items found in the 1956 time capsule as well as April 28, 2014 copies of the Kentucky Kernel, the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Louisville Courier-Journal, among other things.
