Rayen time capsule preserves 1921 mementos

YOUNGSTOWN — Time capsules are “a snapshot in time,” and it’s important to preserve what they contain, said the executive director of the Mahoning Valley Historical Society.

It gives us the opportunity to see what people were thinking and what was important to them when they put items into that capsule, H. William Lawson explained.

He was talking about a particular time capsule in this case, one found in the cornerstone of The Rayen School on Benita Avenue when it was torn down in 2008.

No one, including school officials, knew it was there until workmen on a demolition crew found the carefully sealed copper box.

Its contents have a new existence, thanks to the historical society which has put them on display in the Arms Family Museum of Local History at 648 Wick Ave. The city school board agreed to that scenario last fall.

The box was sealed June 7, 1921, Lawson said.

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