TIME CAPSULE--100 YEARS AGO IN LOS ANGELES, Exhibit at the Los Angeles Central Library

Copper time capsule boxes, from 1881 on left, 1925 on right, at the Los Angeles Central Library.

In May1925, as the cornerstone for the new Central Los Angeles Library building in downtown Los Angeles was laid, a sealed copper box containing memorable items of the time was encased in a cavity within the stone. Inside was a smaller box, a time capsule from 1881 that had been placed in the State Normal School building that previously stood on the spot. When the library building was completed in the following year, the doors opened to great fanfare.  

Cornerstone Dedication and Time Capsule Placement, May 3, 1925.

Now, one hundred years later, in January 2026, in celebration of the Central Library building’s centennial, the time capsule has been retrieved and opened. It is now on display on the third floor of the library, along with the smaller box found within it—the time capsule from the State Normal School.

Some of the items found in the 1925 time capsule.

Some of the items found in the 1925 time capsule.

On a recent visit to the Central Library I visited the time capsule exhibit. I was surprised by the excellent condition of the materials that had been inside it, ranging from a book of Angeles street maps and the library’s annual report (1925) to newspapers and Christmas cards (1881). The items on exhibit are just a sample of what was contained in the boxes.

The Normal School was a teacher training institution. It moved to another location and eventually became the beginning of UCLA.

Selected contents of the 1881 time capsule.

The contents of the time capsule boxes are a snapshot of life in the growing city of Los Angeles.  For more about the city in the 1920s, click HERE for an article at the library website with numerous photos of life in the city at the time.

BATTLE OF THE BOOKS and LITERACY FAIR, Red Hill Elementary, Tustin, CA

Book display at Red Hill Elementary Battle of the Books and Literacy Fair.

On Monday March 2^nd, Read Across America Day, I was one of seven authors with an exhibit table at the Battle of the Books and Literacy Fair at Red Hill Elementary School in Tustin, California. The Battle of the Books is a nation-wide program celebrating reading. At Red Hill, five teams of three students each had read nine books (three by each student) and then responded to questions in a Jeopardy-like competition. There were two rounds of questions. In the first round, students responded by writing their answers on an erase board. In the second round they raced to ring a buzzer in order to answer the question. Parents and brothers and sisters cheered them on from the audience. Before and after the competition and during the intermission, students and their parents browsed the exhibit tables, purchased books and snacks, and got autographs from the authors on their programs. It was a fun community event, celebrating the joy of reading.

Families watch as students on stage compete in the Battle of the Books.

I thank science teacher Reena Fosse for inviting me and for organizing the event. I also thank school librarian Vinnie Yeung and the volunteer high school students who helped with the set-up. Reena Fosse told me that she started the Battle of the Books when her children were students at Red Hill Elementary. This was the fourth year of Battle of the Books. She told me that it gets bigger and better every year.

REMEMBERING LIGHTKEEPER JULIA FISH NICHOLS during WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

Juliet Fish Nichols, Angel Island Lighthouse Keeper, 1902-1914.

Since 1987, March has been designated as Women's History Month, a time to celebrate the achievements and contributions of women. What better time to reacquaint yourself with Juliet Fish Nichols, the lightkeeper on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, who, in the very foggy summer after the disastrous 1906 San Francisco earthquake, kept the fog bell ringing to keep ships safe in the bay.

You can read all about Juliet and her heroic stint in July 1906 when fog bell machine broke and she rang the fog bell by hand for twenty hours straight, hitting the bell with her hammer every fifteen seconds until the fog lifted. The book is available on Amazon in both hardback and as a Kindle e-book.

The fog rolls in to San Francisco Bay. (Illustration by Rachell Sumpter.)

Learn more about Juliet at my website .

And learn about visiting Angel Island State Park, where you can see the giant bell and the platform where the lighthouse once stood, at my travel blog The Intrepid Tourist.

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