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Time Capsule of 1916 Finding Aid
PROCESSING INFORMATION | SERIES DESCRIPTIONS | CONTAINER LIST
Collection #008
Accession NIST-A-0013
Processed March 2024
Repository: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Research Library & Museum | 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899 | Building 101, Room A47
Creator: NBS
Extent: 1.1 LF / .36 meters
Dates: 1910-1994, UNDATED
Scope: Correspondence, newspapers, circulars, drawings, reports, and remarks
Language: English
Provenance: NIST; Library/Archives Subject Files
Access Restrictions: None
Processing Information: Tyler Love, 2024
Related Material:
Organization:
Series I: Contents of Time Capsule
Series II: Related Material
Arrangement: Chronological order within each series
Finding Aid: File Unit Level
History
In 1916, construction began on a Chemistry Building for the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) Washington, D. C. campus. A cornerstone laying celebration for the new building was held on March 23, 1916. At that time materials representing the work of the Chemistry division were sealed in a copper box and placed in the building’s cornerstone as a time capsule.
By 1970, NBS had moved from Washington, D.C. to a new campus in Gaithersburg, MD. The southern portion of the old D.C. campus, including the Chemistry Building, was turned over to the U.S. State Department to be redeveloped to house foreign embassies. In the 1980s the Chemistry Building and other former NBS laboratories were torn down. During the demolition, a demolition worker unearthed the sealed copper box. Not knowing what it was, he took the box home and pried open the welded-shut lid, revealing its contents.
Through word-of-mouth in the early 1990s Donald Johnson, Director of NIST Technology Services, learned of the existence of the NBS time capsule and informed Barry Diamondstone, a chemist and Deputy Director of the NIST Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory. Diamondstone took possession of the time capsule and donated its paper contents to the NIST archives in 1994. In 2024 he donated the copper box and a set of standard reference materials within it to the NIST museum.
Series Descriptions
Series I: Contents of Time Capsule
Accession: NIST-A-0013
Dates: 1910-1916, UNDATED
Extent: .2 LF / .06 meters
Scope: Newspapers, circulars, drawings, reports, and remarks
Description: Material kept in the library’s Time Capsule subject file. Believed to be original documents that were retrieved from cornerstone. Original photographs are missing.
Organization/Arrangement: Chronological
Series II: Related Materials
Accession: NIST-A-0013
Dates: 1976-1994, UNDATED
Extent: .1 LF / .03 meters
Scope: Correspondence, article
Description: Related material that was kept in the library’s Time Capsule subject file & is relevant to this collection
Organization/Arrangement: Chronological
Container List
Series I: Time Capsule Contents, 1910-1916, UNDATED
| Box | Folder | Title | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 001 | Bureau of Standards Certificates of Analyses | 1910-1914 |
| 1 | 002 | Circulars and Newspapers | 1913-1916 |
| 1 | 003 | The Work of the NBS. An Address by Dr. S.W. Stratton before the Engineers' Club | May 4, 1915 |
| 1 | 004 | 4 Drawings of Bureau of Standards Chemical Building by Don & Deming Architects | June 1915 |
| 1 | 005 | Annual Report of the Director, Bureau of Standards to the Secretary of Commerce for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 1915 | 1915 |
| 1 | 006 | Report to the Director, Bureau of Standards by W.F. Hillebrand, Chief Chemist for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 1915 | 1915 |
| 1 | 007 | Specifications of Material and Labor Required in the Construction of a Chemical Laboratory Building for the Bureau of Standards by Don & Deming Architects | 1915 |
| 1 | 008 | Roster of the Entire Chemistry Force at the Bureau of Standards in Washington | March 15, 1916 |
| 1 | 009 | Remarks of Hon. William Redfield, Secretary of Commerce, at the Laying of the Corner-Stone of the New Chemical Laboratory of the NBS | March 23, 1916 |
| 1 | 010 | Remarks of the Chief Chemist, Wm. F. Hillebrand, on the occasion of the Corner Stone Laying of the First Chemistry Building of the NBS | March 23, 1916 |
| 1 | 011 | Remarks of the Director of the Bureau of Standards at the Laying of the Corner Stone of the Chemical Laboratory | March 23, 1916 |
| 1 | 012 | Paper Samples with Typewriter and Ink Examples | UNDATED |
Return to Series I Description.
Series II: Related Materials, 1976-1994, UNDATED
| Box | Folder | Title | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 013 | William B. Folger Correspondence | 1976 |
| 1 | 014 | "CTSL History: The Time Capsule" Article on Recovery of Capsule by Barry I. Diamondstone | 1994 |
| 1 | 015 | List of Time Capsule Contents and Photocopies of Lost(?) Materials Not in Series I | UNDATED |
Return to Series II Description.
Box 2 is for separated materials.