As crews began work on Binghamton University’s Science I building this summer, they discovered something unexpected: a sealed silver box behind the cornerstone.
The building, among the oldest on the Vestal campus, is undergoing significant work to add a second-story addition that will house the Chenango Room, as well as a dedicated event space that includes a terrace and outdoor seating. But no one, as it turns out, knew that a time capsule was concealed in the wall — placed sometime in 1960 or 1961, back when the University was known solely as Harpur College.
Fittingly, it fell to Harpur College to open the box this fall. Enter Jeremiah Brown from the Harpur College Fabrication Lab, equipped with protective gloves, mallets, a chisel and a sturdy pair of scissors.
“We’re going in,” quipped Anthropology Professor and Harpur College Associate Dean for Research and Programs Carl Lipo, who was recording the proceedings.
With focused patience, Brown methodically cut open the double-walled metal box, making sure not to damage the contents.
“It’s definitely not empty,” he said after a pause. “You can feel something rolling around when you move it.”
The first to emerge: assorted publications, among them the February 1960 edition of Time, with the cover story “Rush Hour in Space.” There were also documents, including teaching salaries, sundry annual reports, a course catalog, a periodic table of elements and multiplication tables. One by one, Brown pulled out a program of Harpur College’s 10th Commencement, lab results concerning a rat in a Skinner box, and a switch from the Skinner box itself.
He then peeled back layers of tissue paper to reveal a Petri dish designed by scientist J.R. Petri in 1916, a compass used by the physics department, a square of blue glass, a piece of rock collected in 1960 from a geology field trip to Bear Mountain, and an empty bottle of distilled mercury.
While some of the contents reflect how much has stayed the same over the decades, such as the multiplication tables, others underscore how much has changed, reflected Harpur College Dean Celia Klin. The national average salary for assistant professors back in 1961 was $1,333; the Time magazine ads touted cigarettes and dictating machines.
“I often talk to people about Harpur’s proud beginnings as one of the country’s early public liberal arts colleges. Those same values motivate us today — our commitment to offering students regardless of their background the opportunity for a broad and deep education in the sciences, the arts, languages, literature, history and the social sciences,” Klin said. “Holding materials in my hands that our founders also touched provided me with a tangible connection to Harpur’s past.”
Plans are in the works to put the items on display.