On May 28, 1958, the Law School celebrated the groundbreaking of its new building on 60th Street with a ceremony and the laying of a cornerstone. This new building, designed by famed architect Eero Saarinen, was only the second permanent home of the Law School, which had been in Stuart Hall on the main University quad since 1904.
Inside the cornerstone were laid two copper boxes. The first contained the items present in the cornerstone of the original Law School building. These included photographs of President Theodore Roosevelt and of the Law Faculty of 1902, a copy of the minutes of the first meeting of that faculty, the first catalog of the Law School, and a large variety of University publications.
In the second box was a variety of new items, including statements from several leaders of that time telling people 50 years hence what we should know about 1958. These were received sealed and unread, with the understanding that the cornerstone would be opened on May 28, 2008, and the statements would then be read. The boxes were then, apparently, promptly forgotten.
In early 2009, during the research for an article on the 50th anniversary of the opening of the building, a writer discovered the existence of the boxes in a 1958 issue of the alumni magazine. In August 2009, University stone masons managed, with great effort, to open the cornerstone and remove the two copper boxes.
The boxes were soldered shut. One was labeled "Old 1903" (containing the contents of the 1903 Stuart Hall cornerstone which had been reinterred in 1958) and one was labeled "New 1958" (containing the items newly placed). The 1958 alumni magazine listed the contents, so we knew what we would find inside. We did not know what condition it would be in, and were pleasantly surprised to find everything nearly damage-free. Every item was carefully cataloged and stored and will be added to the University of Chicago Library in the Special Collections department.
A slideshow with photographs of the opening of the cornerstone is here: http://www.law.uchicago.edu/node/2022.
Included in this web exhibit are the letters, photographs, and a few documents from the first year of the Law School that were contained in the 1903 and 1958 time capsules.
This exhibit was produced with the assistance of the following individuals:
Kathleen E. Arthur
Preservation Reformatting Librarian, University of Chicago Library Preservation Department
Mike Kenny
Photographer, University of Chicago Library Preservation Department
Ann Lindsey
Head of Conservation, University of Chicago Library
Elisabeth Long
Co-Director of the Digital Library Development Center, University of Chicago Library
Marsha Ferziger Nagorsky
Assistant Dean for Communications and Lecturer in Law, University of Chicago Law School
Julie R. Stauffer
Head of Law Acquisitions & Serials, University of Chicago Library
In its capacity as owner of the physical property represented in this Web exhibit, the University of Chicago Library encourages the use of these materials for educational and scholarly purposes.
Some documents, texts, and images included in "The University of Chicago Law School Time Capsules, 1903 & 1958" are subject to U. S. copyright law. It is the user's sole responsibility to secure any necessary copyright permission to publish documents, texts, and images from any holders of rights in these materials.
Use of these materials for publication in any medium also requires the permission of the University of Chicago Library. For further information on reproduction of materials, contact Julie Stauffer at the D'Angelo Law Library.
