Around 400 people crowded onto the South Lawn of the Missouri Capitol Friday to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the laying of the building's cornerstone and to learn which items will be placed inside a new time capsule.
Gov. Jay Nixon made the official announcement, telling the crowd that many of the items are specifically tied to the Show-Me State.
"There will be a packet of non-GMO Missouri heirloom seeds, (and) a piece of Missouri coal," Nixon said. "There will be a photo from the aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters to hit our nation, the Joplin tornado, so we can demonstrate the perseverance of the people of our great state."
Nixon had earlier asked Missouri residents to submit ideas for the new time capsule through the state's official website or via social media.
"Some items will show the technology that is advanced for our time, such as the latest iPhone, which will be included in the time capsule," Nixon said, "although the iPhone may be to Missourians in 2115 what a pocket watch is to us today."
Other items chosen for the new time capsule include:
- Hood ornaments from the three brands of pickups manufactured in Missouri, the Ford F-150, Chevrolet Colorado, and GMC Canyon
- Autographed baseballs from the 2015 St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals
- A key to the Missouri Capitol building
- A Harry Truman presidential $1 coin
- A Missouri State Parks trail book
- A photograph of a B-2 Stealth bomber stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base
- A photograph of a C-130H aircraft at Rosecrans Air National Guard Base
- A copy of the Missouri Manual, a.k.a., "Missouri Blue Book"
- The original Bible from the 1915 time capsule
- A 2003 Missouri quarter
- A DVD copy of the documentary film "The Battle of Island Mound," which depicts the first African-American Union Army regiment to see action in the Civil War
- A Missouri road map
- A current copy of the Missouri Constitution
- The obituary of Frank Buckles, who, at the time of his death, was the last surviving American veteran from World War One.
The new time capsule will be sealed and buried at a later date, and is to remain buried until the year 2115.
The cornerstone ceremony was conducted by Freemasons from the Grand Lodge of Missouri and the M.W. Prince Hall Grand Lodge. Prince Hall, an African-American Masonic lodge, was barred from taking part in the original cornerstone ceremony in 1915.
"I'm glad the progress we have made in (the past) hundred years has helped begin to right that wrong," Nixon said.
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