Clintons to unveil contents of time capsule

December 30, 1999
Web posted at: 3:54 AM EST (0854 GMT)

But when it's opened in 2100, will people know what a Twinkie is?

A century from now, will today's computer chip look like something from the Dark Ages?

Will future Americans get Pokemon?

A prototype of America's time capsule is to be unveiled by President Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday at a ceremony kicking off turn-of-the-century festivities in the nation's capital.

"It was Mrs. Clinton's idea. She wanted something that would symbolize America at the end of the 20th century and express our wishes for the people of the next century," said Ellen Lovell, director of the White House Millennium Council.

Charles, a blind singer, sent his sunglasses. President Reagan's chief of staff Joanne Drake suggested a piece of the Berlin Wall to represent the collapse of communism and "spread of democracy in the 20th century."

AT&T Chairman Mike Armstrong is contributing a cell phone. Author and historian Stephen Ambrose suggests a World War II helmet.

Second-graders at Lewis and Clark Elementary in Great Falls, Mont., made a collage that includes pictures of the popular Pokemon cartoon characters, a box of Lean Cuisine (shrimp and angel hair pasta), Cuba's Fidel Castro and a national weather map.

Seniors at Shorecrest High School in Shoreline, Wash., submitted a box containing a poem, a state timeline and an "object of enduring American symbolism: a Hostess Twinkie."

The White House Millennium Council plans to use every idea submitted. Photographs, small replicas or written material will be substituted for items, such as the Liberty Bell, that won't fit.

"It's going to take a while to translate the ideas into artifacts and then actually put them in the time capsule to make sure they're conserved for 100 years," Lovell said.

Following the unveiling, the prototype of the time capsule will go on display this weekend at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. The official capsule, a 4-by-6-by-2-foot chest designed with an American flag motif, will be built this spring.

The chest will be constructed of titanium, which has a bluish tint to represent the star field, and reddish-colored silicon bronze and stainless steel to represent the red and white stripes. The capsule and some of its contents are scheduled to be displayed at the National Archives in late spring and summer and then stored there in a secure, climate-controlled area until the year 2100.

To figure out what to put inside, the council sought input from students around the nation. More than 1,000 students have written about their dreams for America in the 21st century and classrooms from nearly all states, territories and the District of Columbia have sent in artifacts, or their ideas for items to go in the capsule.

Students at Carl Stuart Middle School in Conway, Ark., sent a copy of their hometown newspaper. First and second graders at Mount Pleasant Elementary School in Wilmington, Del., who want a smoke-free America in the 21st century, sent in a cigarette box marked with the "no" symbol of a line through a circle.

Students at Tolland High School in Tolland, Conn. submitted a drawing of a homeless person looking through a storefront window at a television showing the lunar landing.

"They wanted to come up with an idea that represents the fact that we have such tremendous technology, yet we still have so many problems at home," said teacher Joe Bacewicz.

The council also asked for submissions from presidential and congressional award recipients in science, technology, arts, humanities and leadership. So far, 100 of the 450 medal winners have responded.

Actor Gregory Peck suggested a photo of astronaut Neil Armstrong on the moon. James Watson, who first described the structure of the human gene molecule, wants to put in a CD-ROM of the human genome project. Documentary maker Ken Burns suggested Louis Armstrong's trumpet.

Stanley Donald Stookey, who invented Corning Ware -- a line of household products like casserole dishes and pie plates, humbly suggested his own creation because it is a product used in almost every home and "it will last a millennium."

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