Bomb squad called in to open centennial time capsule at WWI Museum in Kansas City

A 100-year old time capsule was cracked open from the cornerstone of a WWI memorial in Kansas City on Wednesday.

Before the unveiling of the capsule, which contained a letter from President Calvin Coolidge among other contents, a bomb squad was called to open the case due to concerns that ill-preserved nitrate film could cause a fire.

The Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, features a museum and a massive 217-foot tall tower dedicated to the soldiers of WWI. Museum excavators had to drill through 18-inches of concrete to get to the capsule which was embedded in the tower’s base.

“It was not easy. There was no door to open and pull the time capsule out,” said the museum’s curator, Christopher Warren.

The 1917 Declaration of War, crop seeds, a copper plate engraving of a front cover of the Kansas City Star newspaper and a letter from Allied general John Pershing were also inside the capsule, according to reports.

The film that was cause for concern showed the groundbreaking of the memorial in 1921. Other things included the Constitution, a Bible, and various photographs, according to Fox News.

On that copper front page from 1924 – a news article references a statistic that Kansas City produces 120,000 kilowatts of power each day. The city produces eight-and-a-half times that amount of power today, according to The Kansas City Star.

“It just shows me how far we came as a city, and how much different it is now than it was back then,” Jamal Okinoyi, a student who was present at the unveiling, told the Star.

The Liberty Memorial Museum announced it is making its own centennial time capsule that will be buried in 2026.

Warren suggested that things like sports memorabilia and entertainment artifacts be included.

“Then put other things, it may be something faith-based that’s important to Kansas City,” Warren added, “Something that has to do with the economy and progress and those types of things.

“So we’re really looking forward to getting the ideas from the people of Kansas City to help inform us what we should put.”

Khaelen Kwi, another student in attendance, suggested to the Star, “We should use a computer and 100 years later they’ll have a better computer and they’ll see what we have back in the day.”

Artifacts from the capsule are on display at the Liberty Memorial.

With Post wires