U of E president Christopher Pietruszkiewicz stood before a large crowd sharing the items from the time capsule one by one. Specifically, a residential student pamphlet.
“And so in case you can't read it from the back, the room in a residence hall was $72. And the meal plan was $140,” he said, pausing. “It's a little more now.”
UE recovered the soldered copper time capsule containing eight foil-wrapped packets. It’s about the size of a shoe-box.
They chose this packet to share in detail, sliding each under an overhead projector to better show visitors in the back.
For most pieces, 1959 UE Graduate and Life Trustee Rita Eykamp provided some context for the items such as a “Little Blue Book.”
“And if you don't know what a Little Blue Book is, it has a place for addresses and all kinds of statistical things — 'what to know' on pages,” Eykamp said.
The packet also included an Air Force jet to represent the ROTC program, a Sears and Roebuck Catalogue and a program from the 1958 NCAA Division two basketball tournament, which was Chairman of the Board Bob Jones’ favorite item.
“The beautiful thing about Evansville is it's really all about the legacy and I think people will enjoy seeing it and reliving those memories,” he said.
Jones said the items will likely end up in the University library. Friday February 17 was also “Founders Day” — the day the University was founded 175 years ago.
After the overall presentation, UE employee Morgan Lamberton unwrapped additional time capsule packets as visitors poured over the items up close, holding a bit of local history in their hands.
These included a lot of paper items, like stamps and campus tuition prices, which is what struck Andrea Davis who attended with her daughter Kaylynn, 15.
“Three cents for a stamp and, you know, $900 for tuition — like mind blowing,” she said.
To Jones, these items reveal something deeper about the community.
“… to know where you're going, you have to know where you've been. And you look at some of these items, Alcoa, aluminum foil and the basketball programs and all the things that means so much to the university in the area. And then you just think about where we're headed is pretty exciting.”
There will be time capsules going into the ground for new builds, for which Davis already has ideas.
“The first thing I thought about was the facemask because of the pandemic," she said. "I thought that would be perfect.”
