Ohio time capsule takes us back to the Roarin’ 20s

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (CBS Newspath) – A world war, 17 presidents, massive changes in communication, technology, and culture. All of that happened in the last 100 years.

Builders of a Roman Catholic school in Steubenville, Ohio in 1924 placed a time capsule in the cornerstone to send a message from the past to the future. Demolition of the high school, repurposed as apartments, unearthed that message.

“It does not look like they were in the ground, out in the weather for 100 years,” says Emily Teachout, the archivist for Steubenville Diocese, of the capsule’s contents.

Inside is a list of the church committee, a bulletin, and a booklet written for children preparing for First Communion. There’s also a yearbook and a student newspaper.

There’s even a document written entirely in Latin. Teachout says other time capsules they’ve found weren’t much more than scraps of paper, so the feeling of stepping back into the past with this one is remarkable.

“In comparison to 100 years ago, people aren’t that much different,” says Teachout.