Time capsules opened in Shepherdstown

The audience was made up of the public, Shepherd University faculty and staff, local community leaders and politicians wanting to learn what had been sealed in the cornerstone of the Sara Cree Building on Shepherd University’s campus.

The building was recently demolished to make room for needed parking. An additional casket was found with the contents and original placement a mystery before the opening.

The building was originally named the health and physical education building until 1975 when the name was changed to Sara Cree Hall in honor of Sara Cree, who was a physical education professor at Shepherd from 1940 to 1972.

“I’m so excited about this today — in addition, there is so much community interest. This is wonderful,” said Mary J.C. Hendrix, Shepherd University president.

Shepherdstown Chief of Police Mike King; Delegate Jill Upson, R-Jefferson; Shepherdstown Mayor Jim Auxer; and Berkeley County Councilwoman Elaine Mauck were just a few of the dignitaries in attendance.

The cornerstone had been removed, but the capsule remained sealed until the ceremony.

“They opened the stone, but the caskets inside the stone are sealed. I think they know what was in one of them because there was a newspaper article from 1951 that described what they were putting in. Then there is another one that they are opening that they actually found in the building that wasn’t in the stone, they have no idea what is in it,” said Paul Strider, Mt. Nebo Lodge No. 91 member.

Holly Morgan Frye, assistant vice president for Student Affairs and director of community and congressional relations at Shepherd University, explained a theory on the mystery box.

“The other one was stored. We think (it came from) a men’s dormitory that was behind where Sara Cree was, and it was knocked down in ’95,” Frye said. “We think that may have come out of (there), and we think it’s possible that the construction guys picked it up and stored it in Sara Cree (building), but we will know very soon,”she said.

It seems the Sara Cree building has always had the support of the community.

“You know, when you look at the collaboration between the town and Sara Cree (building), we had the Masonic Lodge do the cornerstone, that building was used not only by the students, the facility and staff, but by the community as well,” Frye said. “One more quick thing, I’m saying this in honor of my father, we were even able to use that building as we were tearing it down for firefighter training.”

Construction started in 1950 and was completed in 1951. It was estimated that the building cost $500,000. The cornerstone laying ceremony was conducted by the West Virginia Grand Lodge of Masons at 10 a.m. on Oct. 27, 1951. The second portion of the building was completed in 1974.

“On Saturday, Sept. 27, 1975 the building was renamed for Dr. Sara Cree, one of our beloved facility members of Shepherd University,” Frye said.

Grand lecturer Stephen G. Swank, Mason Lodge PGM spoke about the process and dedication that goes into a cornerstone.

“Cornerstones have existed for thousands of years. As the first foundation that they laid, it had to be square, level, plumb, well formed and trusted. We perform this ceremony only for the erection of churches, schools, public buildings and our own lodge temples,” Swank said. “Our records show that in Jefferson County, we have been privileged to lay cornerstones for 22 churches, 20 school buildings, one public building and three lodges — a total of 46, the most of any county.”

Records indicate the first one the Masons placed in Jefferson County was in 1902.

“Unlike time capsules, which are meant to be opened on a specific date, the cornerstone casket is intended to remain sealed within the cornerstone until the building is demolished,” Swank said. “This is the first time we have been invited to open and display the contents of a cornerstone casket in Jefferson County.”

Monica Lingenfelter, executive vice president for the Shepherd University Foundation, was a close friend to Cree and spent time with her before her death.

“When asked how she felt about her building eventually being taken down, she said, ‘I only want you to do one thing with that building and that’s whatever is best for the students.’ I think that sums up Sara Cree’s approach to life and her approach to her teaching career and why she will be remembered by so many who knew her as a truly remarkable woman,” Lingenfelter said.

The first casket, the one from the Sara Cree Hall Building Cornerstone, was opened. Over 50 items were packed into the box and were slowly and carefully removed by Grand Master Richard Nuhfer and Shepherd University’s Christy Toms, coordinator of archives and special collections. The inventory included the Holy Bible, a complete catalog of Shepherd College, photographs of administration officials and faculty and students, a Shepherd College yearbook, a 1950 West Virginia State Magazine, a special edition of the Jefferson Republican newspaper, The Martinsburg Journal, The Independent newspaper, the Spirit of Jefferson newspaper, the Shepherdstown Register newspaper, the Morning Herald newspaper, an official football program for the 27th annual Homecoming and many other items.

Then it was time to open the next casket.

“This is the mystery box. We are not sure where it came from. Bolvaer Hall, which was built the same time Sara Cree was built, was torn down in December of 1990,”Toms said. “As you heard from Steve, this is the first time they ever opened a casket. He also stated that the men’s dorm in 1952 had a cornerstone. We believe this to be the cornerstone casket from Bolvaer Hall.”

The caskets appeared to be close in age. The contents were a dime from 1942; a 1950 penny; letters, one of which read, “I predict an enrollment of more than 1,000 students, full day time students, within 10 years, 2,000 students by 2000 A.D., America’s population will be billions.” The world will be organized in a strong world government of nations. Shepherd College will have many foreign students who will spend weeks abroad.”

“We’ve done it,” Frye said.

It also included a state of West Virginia road map, drawings, groundbreaking photos and minutes of the meeting of the West Virginia Board of Education appropriating the money for the construction of Bolvaer Hall. The cost of living in Bolvaer Hall was listed as $3.60 per week. A history of education in the state of West Virginia book was also packed tightly inside the time-traveling box. A copy of the Martinsburg Journal — November 8, 1952 edition — and several other local newspapers including The Independent newspaper, the Spirit of Jefferson newspaper, the Shepherdstown Register newspaper and the Morning Herald newspaper were also included. The cost of the papers was five cents each. Stamps, ranging from one cent to three cents, were also entombed.

The time capsules allow future generations to take a peek into the past to see what the world was facing on that day, and the findings will remain at Shepherd University for future generations to review and study.

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