Teen Historians at the New-York Historical Society Curate Time Capsule to Be Opened in 2114

Teens historians participating in an internship program at the New-York Historical Society curated a 2014 time capsule that is slated to be opened in 100 years.
nyhs_logoOn October 8, one time capsule from 1914 was opened and another one from 2014 was sealed, at the New-York Historical Society (NYHS) in New York City. Among the items in the time capsule capturing 2014: hand sanitizer, a Gay Pride tank top, and a NYC MetroCard. Curating a 2014 time capsule was part of the Student Historian Program, an internship program at the NYHS for high school students in grades 10–12 from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The program provides vocational and academic training, public speaking lessons, and leadership development—as well as an increased understanding of American art and history—and runs during the summer and the academic year. It was during this past summer that student historians collected and curated items that would encapsulate New York City history and culture in 2014. In preparation, "student historians became familiar with the [backstory] and history of the 1914 capsule from the Historical Society’s museum collection, learned about material culture to better understand how historians might use the contents of the 2014 capsule, and donated an object to be included in the 2014 time capsule," says Chelsea Frosini, manager of Teen Programs at NYHS. One student at New York City's LaGuardia High School, Emily Dabrowska, chose a Lady Gaga concert ticket to be included in the capsule. The 1914 time capsule had been created by members of the Lower Wall Street Business Men’s Association to mark "the tricentennial of the first official reference to New Netherland, the nascent trading post that would become New York," according to the New York Times. The Lower Wall Street Association entrusted the capsule to the NYHS, to be opened in May 1974. However, the capsule was forgotten in a storage warehouse, and its rediscovery was the catalyst for the creation of the 2014 capsule. According to a NYHS press release, the students used object and inquiry-based learning to collect and curate the items that would encapsulate New York City history and culture of 2014. The young historians broke into teams—Collections, Curatorial, Exhibition Design, Education, and Communications and Press—to mimic the museum process of acquiring artifacts, curating artifacts, and interpreting and increasing public awareness about the objects. There were some similarities between the two time capsules—both contained references to coffee and tea. One 1914 item was a copy of the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, while the 2014 capsule included paper coffee cups from a Greek dinner and Starbucks. Also, memorabilia of the curators were included: a photograph of Ellen Jay, who was involved with the 1914 capsule, had been encapsulated. In the 2014 capsule, each of the student historians enclosed a selfie. Both capsules had a copy of the New York Times. Both capsules featured examples of technology of the day. The 1914 one contained a telegram from the 40th New York State Governor Martin Glynn, while technology items from 2014 included a flash drive with the Google News homepage saved to it, a CD-mix tape, an Amazon Kindle, and a 3-D printed Freedom Tower. Plans to open the new time capsule are for October 2114.
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