Time Capsule from 1962 opened at A.K.Smiley Library

Forty Six items including a Sears catalogue, photos and brochures were revealed Jan. 26 when Redlands city officials opened a time capsule from more than 50 years ago.

The copper box was placed in an outer wall at the former Safety Hall, 212 Brookside Ave., on Saturday, Nov. 24, 1962. It was removed earlier last month after City Council authorized sale of the building last year.

Not knowing what would be recovered from the box, Mayor Paul Foster and A.K.Smiley Public Library Director Don McCue led the reveal of the first few items at a small gathering at the library:

Newspaper headlines announcing resignations and “U.S. lifts Cuba quarantine;” a Sears Fall/Winter Catalogue; a Bible; a Redlands Map and documents with information on Safety Hall and its purchase.

Several brochures and rosters from community organizations made up many of the items from the box, including documents from the Redlands Unified School District and University of Redlands.

The discovery came after ECORP Consulting Inc. began research for the study of the building and a newspaper article mentioned the capsule, officials said.

“We didn’t even know the time capsule existed,” McCue said. “Thank goodness for newspapers.”

Plans are to archive, catalogue and maintain the items from the capsule as a group “since the items mean something more together than any of the individual pieces by themselves,” said Nathan Gonzalez, head archivist at the library.

“These aren’t the usual items you’d find, but it’s definitely a bit of history for Redlands,” he said.