Unboxing Time Capsules: Managing and Using Time Capsules in Your Archive

Authors

April K. Anderson-Zorn, Illinois State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Presentation

Publication Title

Society of American Archivists, College & University Archive Section, Spring Webinar Series

Publication Date

Spring 4-15-2021

Keywords

time capsule, outreach, processing

Abstract

In Spring 2016, a phone call arrived at the Rayfield Archives from the demolition site of an Illinois State University campus dormitory. Workers at the site had uncovered a time capsule and didn’t know where to send it. In the following months, the Rayfield Archives partnered with ISU units, including Marketing and Facilities, to promote the find and redirect a narrative of the sad loss of a dormitory to one of renewal and discovery. The work to triage the damaged capsule materials and make them immediately accessible was made all the more exciting by a second surprise time capsule discovery. Anderson-Zorn will discuss the steps taken to work with the materials from discovery to storage and how University partnerships have informed future historic-themed celebrations and discoveries.

Comments

Video of the presentation can be found here:

https://academicarchivist.wordpress.com/2021/02/15/free-webinar-series-spring-2021/

Video of the webinar series can also be found on the Society of American Archivists YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/SocietyofAmericanArchivists

Recommended Citation

Anderson-Zorn, April K., "Unboxing Time Capsules: Managing and Using Time Capsules in Your Archive" (2021). Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library. 130.
https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/fpml/130