Time travel has fascinated humanity for centuries, sparking dreams of glimpsing the future or changing past events that could alter the present. While, at least for now, this remains just a wish, there are other ways to travel beyond today…
One of them is cracking open a sealed box of memories, and that’s exactly what the L.A. Public Library set out to do this past Thursday, January 29. The event was part of Central 100, a year‑long centennial celebration of the library’s storied life as a hub of learning, community, and culture in downtown Los Angeles.
What was found in the time capsule
The copper time capsule contained a scrapbook titled Homes of the Los Angeles Public Library with photos of major downtown buildings, along with a typed list of all library employees at the time, including City Librarian Everett R. Perry, and a written account of the building’s design by its architects.
Inside was also a smaller, older copper box from the former California State Normal School, which once stood on the site and later became UCLA. That capsule held newspapers in multiple languages, coins, a ticket to the 1881 agricultural fair, documents related to the 1881 assassination of President James A. Garfield, and a record showing Los Angeles’ population at 11,183.
How the Library retrieved the capsule
Extracting the capsule took nearly a year of planning. Todd Lerew, Director of Special Projects at The Library Foundation, explained to CBS that there were no original instructions, only old photographs hinting at its location within the building’s walls.
The box was eventually found behind the wall of what is now the men’s restroom. Workers drilled access holes, used a borescope camera, and carefully cut through terra-cotta and concrete to reach the custom-made copper box-