The time capsule
from the MHC class of 1900 awaits its March 31 opening on a
table in the College archives. The box, which is bolted
shut, has a plaque on top that states it is to be opened in
the year 2000 and is for the Class of 2000. The plaque atop
the time capsule box given to the class of 2000 by the class
of 1900. It is scheduled to be opened at the amphitheater on
the evening of March 31.
On the evening of Friday,
March 31, at 7 pm, the Mount Holyoke community will witness history
in the making with the opening of a unique time capsule. A small
wooden box that has been stowed away for the last one hundred years,
the capsule will be opened before all to see in Gettell Amphitheater.
Made of handsome dark wood and the size of a bread box, the capsule
was created in 1900 by the senior class of that year for the
graduating class of 2000. It was featured in the commencement
exercises that took place one hundred years ago. A letter in the box
reveals the bonds between students then and now, as well as the
ongoing hopes and fears of American women over the last century.
According to Sara Hines,
president of the current senior class, the time capsule opening is a
"celebration of the gift of history. The class of 2000 is really
excited about playing a pivotal role in the opening's ceremony. That
one hundred years ago our foremothers were thinking about our class
is truly amazing." Hines and other members of the class of 2000 have
made all the event arrangements, including plans to exhibit the
capsule's contents following its opening. Little is known about the
contents of the box, but its travels over the last century have been
documented through the College's archives. In a letter written in
1950 from a member of the class of 1900, Bertha N. Meserve, to Jane
Holland, one of three women from the class of 1950 who were named to
be on hand for next month's opening, the contents of the box are
described as "filled with various class records and souvenirs." Fifty years ago, Holland and
the two other women from the then freshly graduated class of 1950
were selected as trustees of the time capsule. Although Holland has
died, Ruth Craig Morales of Northampton and Cornelia Brown Pomeroy of
Worcester, will be on hand at the opening. Pomeroy explains that she
was picked as a time capsule trustee because she lived in the same
area as the class of 1900's secretary. Morales says that she and Jane
Holland were selected because they were high school English students
of a member of the class of 1900 and were recommended because of that
personal connection. The class of 2000 is planning
to dedicate a time capsule, perhaps reusing the wooden box from 1900,
to the class of 2100. The ceremony for this next piece of history
will be held May 20 on campus during commencement weekend. Seniors
are currently being polled to find out what they think should be
placed in the box. Hines expects that a class picture will be
included. In order to share the
contents of the opened time capsule with the public and MHC alumnae,
an exhibition is planned in the library. The display is scheduled to
open before May, so that it may be a part of commencement activities.
![[Index]](../index3.gif){kind=small}