Author: smerrit2

Time Capsules on Campus

Posted on by Sammi Merritt

By Sammi Merritt

Following the 2024 discovery of time capsules in the cornerstones of the Main Library and McKinley Health Center, we have wondered whether there might be more “copper boxes” hidden throughout campus. Upon further investigation, it appears that these cornerstone boxes may be more common than we imagined.

Early 20th century newspaper articles indicate that it was a common practice – not only on campus, but around the world – to include such a “copper box” in new building cornerstones. In those days, as now, it was common to hold a cornerstone laying ceremony to lay the cornerstone for new buildings. Over 265 (digitized) articles from Illinois newspapers, including 30 articles from the Daily Illini, suggest that a core purpose of this ceremony was to fill and encapsulate these boxes within the cornerstone. On May 9, 1924, in anticipation of the cornerstone laying ceremony for McKinley Hospital (now McKinley Health Center), the Daily Illini states this clearly: “The big box that dominates every cornerstone laying is being filled with the numerous articles today…”

Programs and photos from these ceremonies, which were held for many new campus buildings, can be found in the Archives in record series 2/0/808 Building and Statue Dedication Programs and 39/2/20 Photographic Subject File, respectively. Many photographs from these ceremonies actually depict the copper box being enclosed within the cornerstone, such as the two from the McKinley Hospital ceremonies linked below.

Campus news sources covered the deposit of some boxes, but not all of them. Although the Champaign News Gazette published a list of the contents of the capsule in the Main Library’s cornerstone, The Daily Illini published nothing on the box. Conversely, The Daily Illini published many details about the copper boxes in McKinley Hospital and the Architecture Building’s cornerstones.

A full list of university buildings which are known (as of June 2025) to contain a copper box can be found below. It is possible that more will be discovered as additional sources are identified, and that more undocumented cornerstone boxes will come to light as buildings reach the end of their life on campus.

(Note that university buildings on the Chicago campus and local Champaign-Urbana buildings have been omitted from this list, but many of these buildings do contain copper boxes confirmed in the source below; notably the Champaign and Urbana City Buildings.)

[A copy of this blog post can be found in the Archives’ ready reference file on “Buildings, University.”]

University of Illinois Buildings Which Contain Time Capsules

All buildings with known or suspected time capsules are listed below, in chronological order of their cornerstone laying.

Four main sources were used to confirm the presence of time capsules/copper boxes in the following list:

The sources which confirm the presence of each box are included beneath the building name, with the digitized source linked where possible.

Legend

(Current building name [if different from original name])
[x] Building no longer exists
* Time capsule has already been retrieved
^ Indicates a time capsule that has been or will be replaced
[?] Suspected time capsule (not confirmed)

1871

  • University Hall [x]*
    [x] Building demolished in 1938.
    *Time capsule retrieved in 1938 and placed into the Gregory Hall cornerstone in 1939.

1892

  • Natural History Building

1896

1906

  • Auditorium (Foellinger Auditorium)

1907

1909

  • Osborne Hall (Chi Omega Sorority House)

1910

1912

  • Commerce Building (Old)
    [Note that The Daily Illini refers to this as the “New” Commerce Building, but this is 12 years before construction of the “New” New Commerce Building, which was dedicated on the same day as the “New” Library and “New” Gymnasium in 1924.]

  • 1912 Senior Memorial: “Eternal Flame”

1913

1914

1915

1916

  • Women’s Residence Hall (Busey Hall)

1917

  • Tina Weedon Smith Memorial Building (Smith Hall) [?]
    [?] Suspected to have a time capsule containing phonographic discs of the University Band due to mention of recordings made for this purpose in 1909 DI

1920

1922

1924

  • McKinley Hospital (McKinley Health Center) *^
    *Retrieved on March 24, 2025 as part of 100th Anniversary celebrations.
    ^To be replaced in 2025.

    • The Daily Illini, June 3, 1924, pp 7
    • See also: McKinley Hospital Addition (1961)
  • New Library (Main Library) *^
    *Retrieved in October 2024 as part of 100th Anniversary celebrations.
    ^To be replaced in 2025.

    • Champaign News Gazette, June 8, 1924, pp 1
    • The Daily Illini, June 6, 1924, pp 1
  • New Commerce Building (David Kinley Hall)
    • Champaign News Gazette, June 8, 1924, pp 1
    • The Daily Illini, June 6, 1924, pp 1
  • New Men’s Gymnasium (Huff Hall)
    • Champaign News Gazette, June 8, 1924, pp 1
    • The Daily Illini, June 6, 1924, pp 1

1926

1928

1930

1931

1934

1937

1939

1948

  • Mechanical Engineering Building

1951

1955

1958

1961

1962

1963

  • College of Education Building

1978

1981

1987

100 Years Later: The University Library Time Capsule

Posted on by Sammi Merritt

By Sammi Merritt

The University Library building celebrated its 100th anniversary on November 15, 2024. Leading up to the celebration, many Library units reached out to the University Archives looking for photos, historical material, and other support in the creation of exhibits to commemorate the occasion.

As the exhibit deadlines approached, the Archives received a final reference request from the Facilities Office: when the cornerstone for the building was laid in 1924, was a time capsule hidden inside?

Continue reading “100 Years Later: The University Library Time Capsule” →

Raiders of the Lost Archives – Archival Context and a Map to an Undiscovered Tomb

Posted on by Sammi Merritt

By Sammi Merritt

Finding information in the archives can sometimes feel like an expedition through time – a scavenger hunt in countless records to find the holy grail document that you’re looking for, sifting through ancient ruins and dusty boxes for the one scrap of information that will definitively answer your research question. On occasion, this digging will turn up the exact information you were looking for. Other times, you must answer your questions to the best of the ability of the extant sources, and results are not always as conclusive as we would like them to be.

Sometimes, you come across an item that raises far more questions than it answers. For me, this serendipitous moment occurred while browsing the Neil L. Block Papers (RS 35/3/418). This item, found within a folder inconspicuously labelled “Ancient Egypt – Notes On,” is a 12-page document, handwritten in a purple cursive script on lined, 3-hole punched paper.[1] The first page contains a brief abstract about the Pharaoh Tutankhamen: his life, his reign, the discovery of his tomb, and the grave goods found within. The following 11 pages appear to record a question-and-answer session in which the responder describes exactly where and how to find a (presumably still lost) Egyptian tomb. The 67 questions in the document are addressed to “Ouija,” and the entity responding makes references to the use of a board. Mention of a medium implies that, much like the séances conducted as part of Edwin Peebles’ research (RS 35/2/50), this conversation could have been facilitated through the use of a medium as well. The questions in the document sought to clarify the location of a tomb and how to find it, but the answers are cryptic and sometimes contradictory.

Continue reading “Raiders of the Lost Archives – Archival Context and a Map to an Undiscovered Tomb” →

A Ghostly Past – The Early Life of the English Building

Posted on by Sammi Merritt

By Sammi Merritt

Believe it or not, the University of Illinois is regularly ranked as one of the most haunted college campuses in the United States.[1] From the on-campus burial of the first Regent, John M. Gregory, to the alleged tombstone beneath the Noyes Laboratory, spooky stories are abundant in campus folklore.[2] One of the most famous of these is the harrowing tale of the ghost that haunts the English Building.

Like most folklore, there’s no single correct version of this story. Regardless of the version told, the legend recounts the tale of a woman who died in the English building during its (alleged) use as a dormitory in the early 20th century, and who remains to haunt it to this day.

Continue reading “A Ghostly Past – The Early Life of the English Building” →