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Amid Campus Construction, Drexel University Opens A 1965 Time Capsule

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Drexel University officials got a look today into what was important to staff and students 46 years ago, thanks to a newly discovered time capsule.

During the early stage of demolition of Matheson Hall, at 32nd and Market Streets, workers found a metal box, tightly sealed against the ravages of time, behind a date plate.

Today, they opened it with great fanfare and a power saw (top photo).

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drexel 3-shot ost
(Credit: John Ostapkovich)

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What they found inside was perhaps not as impressive as a first-run Beatles record, but Drexel archivist Rob Sieczkiewicz (center of photo above) says it provides a glimpse into the times of 1965.

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drexel books ost
(Credit: John Ostapkovich)

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"I think there's a very academic focus," he tells KYW Newsradio, "the way they chose a textbook and a blue book, which shows what was on the students' mind at the time.  But I love that they put the personal touch as well.  And there were a couple of cigarette butts with some names.  We're going to figure out who they were, whether they were students or faculty."

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drexel cig ost
(Credit: John Ostapkovich)

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Drexel plans to hold a contest for what to put in a new time capsule for the new business school building that is planned for the same site.

Reported by John Ostapkovich, KYW Newsradio 1060

 

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