Crypt of Civilization

Crypt of Civilization interior, photographed in 1939 prior to sealing

The Crypt of Civilization is a sealed, airtight chamber, built between 1937 and 1940, at the Oglethorpe University in Brookhaven, Georgia, in Metro Atlanta. The 2,000-cubic-foot (57 m³) vault is intended to be opened in AD 8113 and contains numerous artifacts, photographs and sound recordings that illustrate early 20th century life. Classic literature and religious texts were also deposited, as well as items showing the extent of scientific progress to 1939.

Thornwell Jacobs, the initiator of the project, was inspired by the opening of Egyptian pyramids and wanted to create a repository of everyday 1930s objects and a record of human knowledge over the preceding 6000 years. The Guinness Book of Records declared the Crypt to be the first genuine attempt that successfully preserved permanently a record of 20th century culture for future people of thousands of years into the future.

Beginnings

Thornwell Jacobs (1877–1956), the President of Oglethorpe University from 1915 to 1944, is considered the father of modern time capsules by historian Paul Stephen Hudson. Jacobs was inspired by the Egyptian pyramid and tomb openings during the 1920s. His vision was to "make available to some civilization now unthought of, and still far in the future, the running story of the life, manners of customs of the present civilization." During the early 20th century, the earliest historical recorded date was thought to be 4241 BC (a claim that has since been discredited) as the start of the Egyptian calendar. In 1936, Jacobs calculated that 6,177 years had passed and proposed the creation of a Crypt of Civilization, to be opened in AD 8113 after another 6,177 years.

The Crypt of Civilization was constructed in a former swimming pool in the basement of the Phoebe Hearst Hall,, a Gothic-style academic building at Oglethorpe University, dating from 1915. The airtight chamber, measuring 20 ft (6.1 m) long, 10 ft (3.0 m) high and 10 ft (3.0 m) wide, was built between 1937 and 1940. It sits on a stone floor, 3 ft (0.91 m) thick, and has a stone roof 7 ft (2.1 m) thick. The walls are lined with plates of enamel, secured in place with pitch. The stainless steel doorway was welded permanently closed after the oxygen had been removed and replaced with inert nitrogen. Thomas Kimmwood Peters (1884–1973) supervised construction and served as the Crypt's archivist.

Artifacts

The Bureau of Standards were consulted on the design of the Crypt and advised how artifacts should be stored. The chamber resembles a room of an ancient Egyptian pyramid with artifacts placed on shelves and the floor. Many items are stored in stainless steel holders, lined with glass and filled with an inert gas to prevent aging, a concept later carried over to the Westinghouse Time Capsules. The walls are painted with pictographs by George L. Carlson that show the history of intelligence and human development. There is a small windmill inside the vault that will make electricity to operate the electrical items buried in the time capsule.

Many of the artifacts were donated and contributions were received from the King of Sweden Gustav V and Eastman Kodak. Suggestions for items that were accepted for the chamber included a mechanical pencil, a fountain pen and a can opener. Other artifacts deposited included seed samples, dental floss, a woman's purse with typical contents, some Artie Shaw records, an electric toaster, a pacifier, a bottle of Budweiser beer encapsulated in special material for preservation, a manual typewriter, an electronic radio, a store cash register, an office adding machine, and children's toys like Lincoln Logs, and a plastic Donald Duck, a miniature plastic statue of the Lone Ranger , and a cloth and wooden black doll.

Airtight canisters containing cellulose acetate film were also placed into the chamber. These microfilms contain more than 800 standard books of literature (over 600,000 pages), including the Christian Bible, the Quran, Homer's Song of Ilium, and Dante's Divine Comedy. An original manuscript Gone With the Wind film was donated by movie producer David O. Selznick. The Rosicrucians were asked by Peters to send from their archives manuscripts of their philosophy to be included inside the Crypt time vault to be included with the other artifacts that are to be seen by those of 8113 A.D. when the time capsule reopens. Included also was film on Ohio's industrial and historical scenes including travelogues and agricultural scenes of the state.

The crypt contains voice recordings of leaders from the 1930s, including Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Mussolini. The sounds of Popeye the Sailor Man and a professional pig caller were also included. Peters, the archivist, placed electric microfilm readers and picture projectors in the chamber to allow future generations to view and listen to the recordings. He also provided a wind turbine to generate electricity to run the devices, as well as a magnifier for the microfilm records, should electricity not be in general use by the 82nd century. Engraved steel panels of the Atlanta Journal newspaper showing reports from the first year of World War II, were also placed in the crypt.

Contemporary scientific instruments were included, such as an altimeter, a barometer, a telephone, a radio and a television. Peters also deposited a machine called a 'Language Integrator', a type of Mutoscope, a hand-operated movie projector with sound that taught English. This was a type of Rosetta stone and another concept carried forward to the Westinghouse Time Capsules. Peters also included a film he had made about the crypt entitled The Stream of Knowledge that was published in 1938. Jacobs left a written note for those opening the crypt in AD 8113, in which he hoped for future efforts in preservation. He pointed out that the world had been engaged in scientifically preserving the human civilization customs and culture for future generations, and in this crypt it had been presented to these people.

Promotion

In 1937, Jacob spoke on the National Broadcasting Company in New York, to promote the Crypt on nationwide radio. A dedication ceremony at the Oglethorpe University campus took place in May 1938, led by David Sarnoff of Radio Corporation of America and the Paramount newsreels of the occasion were later placed in the crypt. Metal cards were sold to the public by the university for one dollar, which would permit a future descendant of the contributor to attend the reentering of the crypt at noon on Thursday, May 28, 8113.

Jacobs and Peters permanently closed off the crypt in a ceremony that was announced in a newscast by Atlanta's WSB radio May 25, 1940. Notable figures present at the ceremony included Dr. Amos Ettinger, Dr. M. D. Collins, William B. Hartsfield, Ivan Allen, Jr., politician E. D. Rivers, postmaster James Farley and Pulitzer Prize winner Clark Howell. The door was welded shut, and a plaque was fused to it with a message to the people of AD 8113 from Jacobs. In 1990, Guinness World Records wrote that the vault was the first genuine attempt that successfully preserved permanently a record of 20th century cultural objects for any future inhabitants of Earth or visitors that may come to the unoccupied planet.

Legacy

Many deliberations on the Crypt of Civilization have been published or broadcast by the media, including the Associated Press, ABC, NBC, CNN, NPR, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, New York Times newspaper. After the sealing ceremony in 1940, media organizations continued to re-visit the crypt in news stories every decade.

The Crypt of Civilization intrigued America and was replicated by many others. In the mid-1930s, George Edward Pendray, a public relations executive, created the Westinghouse time capsule for a public ceremony for the 1939–40 New York World's Fair, in order to raise awareness of his company's repository vault. The rocket-shaped vessel, with a 7-foot-long (2.1 m) exterior made from the metal alloy cupaloy, contained a Pyrex inner tube in which articles were placed. Pendray’s design was originally called a "time bomb", but the name was later changed to avoid an association with warfare. Pendray chose the name "time capsule" as it encapsulated within a container man-made objects and was intended to be opened in 61 centuries. A second capsule was created by Westinghouse for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Both will be opened at the same time in AD 6939.

The International Time Capsule Society, an international society club for recording the locations and contents of time capsules worldwide, was founded at Oglethorpe University on the fiftieth anniversary (1990) of the official closing of the vault.

The Crypt of Civilization regained prominence from 1999 to 2001 as a result of the Millennium celebrations. It was featured on television and covered by numerous newspapers. The Crypt was featured in an episode of Life After People: The Series on the History Channel.

See also

• Georgia Guidestones
• Time capsule
• List of time capsules
• Timeline of Installs and Open dates

Sources

• Dean, Norman L. (2010). The Man Behind the Bottle. Norman L. Dean. ISBN 9781450054041.
• Westinghouse, Electric and Manufacturing Company (1938). The book of record of the time capsule of cupaloy, deemed capable of resisting the effects of time for five thousand years, preserving an account of universal achievements, embedded in the grounds of the New York World's fair, 1939location=New York City. Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company.
• Seibert, Patricia (2002). We Were Here / A Short History of Time Capsules. Millbrook Press. ISBN 9780761304234.

External links

• Official Website
• Complete list of contents
• Article on the Crypt and its contents
• Popular Science article from December 1938