Time Capsule Items on Display! (Part II)

Did you have a chance to visit the Old State House over the holidays and the exhibit of items from our 1901 time capsule?  It will be up through the end of January, but if you can't make it in, then please follow along on our blog to learn more about the displayed items!

Thomas Hart cabinet card

As I wrote in a previous post, the contents could be organized into four categories.  This post will focus on the items that are related to local and federal government.  There were many items that fell into this category, but we chose to exhibit some of the best preserved and most visually interesting pieces. 

W. Murray Crane cabinet card

The time capsule included a significant number of cabinet cards, which was a style of portraiture that was popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Cabinet cards were usually 4" x 6" and were a thin photograph mounted on a cardboard backing. We chose to display the cabinet cards depicting W. Murray Crane, who served as the Governor of Massachusetts from 1900-1903, and the card depicting Thomas Hart, the Mayor of Boston from 1889-1890, and then again from 1900-1902. Both of these men were in office at the time that the capsule contents were assembled in 1901.

McKinley/Roosevelt campaign button

There were also a few campaign buttons included in the time capsule. The first was a button for the William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt 1900 Presidential campaign, against William Jennings Bryan and Adlai Stevenson. McKinley was running for a second term, but this was the first time that he and Roosevelt were on the ticket together; they were victorious, though McKinley was assassinated in September 1901 and Roosevelt was sworn in as President. This campaign button is small, but the colors are so vivid that you can even make out McKinley's and Roosevelt's rosy cheeks.

Samuel L. Powers campaign button

The other two campaign buttons were for Samuel L. Powers for Congress and John D. Long for Vice-President, both from 1900 elections.  Powers was a U.S. Representative for the 11th and 12th districts of Massachusetts from March 1901 through March 1905. He was a resident of nearby Newton, Massachusetts.  Long's campaign button dates to the 1900

John D. Long campaign button

Republican National Convention, when he ran for Vice-President but lost to Theodore Roosevelt. He had previously served as Governor of Massachusetts from 1880-1883, and was also the Secretary of the Navy from 1897-1902. These men were both accomplished Bay Staters, and we are excited to have their campaign buttons as part of our collection!

I'll be posting about the other items on display in the coming weeks, please be sure to check back or sign up to follow our blog by email!

By Elizabeth Roscio, Library and Archives Manager