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Informational Sheet 1: The Time Capsule

As part of the Boott Cotton Mills Complex redevelopment in 1990, James Normandin of
Normandin & Sons Steeplejacks removed the Boott Mill Weathervane from its tower for
restoration and regilding. Upon moving the weathervane, James uncovered a copper tube
inside the acorn finial and a sheet of paper hidden within the tube. The words on the document
were hardly legible, as time and weather had caused the blue ink to bleed.
(Does this need a transition?) Al Chapman, the Boott Mills welder and coppersmith, placed
the tube and paper in the acorn in 1919. The paper, written by a draftsman named Walter B.
French, highlighted names of people involved in the current Mills renovations, as well as
important local, national, and global news from the year 1919. On one sheet titled Events of a
present nature, French wrote about local strikes (Police strike in Boston, Car Strike on Bay
State St. R.R. Co., Firemans strike has been on in cotton mills for seven weeks, no sign of
settlement). He covered national events such as President Woodrow Wilsons country tour for
support for the League of Nations and World War I Peace Treaty and United States Army
General John Joseph Black Jack Pershings return from France.
Furthermore, French listed salaries--loom fixers received $29.87 per week--and consumer
prices--meat cost sixty to eighty cents per pound, and high-quality mens shoes sold for eight to
ten dollars a pair. Adjusting for inflation, meat would cost $8.25 to $11.00 per pound today.
Loom fixers would earn $410.83 per week, and well-made mens shoes would sell at $110.03 to
$137.54 a pair.
(Does this need a transition?) French recorded the population of Lowell in 1919 at 106,000.
Over the years, Lowells populations has fluctuated dramatically. When the document was
discovered in July 1990, the population of Lowell was approximately 95,500 (note: Google
gives different number). In July 2014, Lowells population was recorded at 109,945.
When the time came to replant the acorn, Kim Tosi of the Congress Group, which renovated the
Boott Mills, was left in charge to write a new document for the time capsule. Tosi decided to
follow the same pattern as French, listing people's roles within the Mills renovation as well as
local and global news. Tosi wrote descriptions of the Boott Mills office and research facility, the
Boott Cotton Mill Museum (Mill #6), the Tsongas Industrial History Center, and the Lowell

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Historic Preservation Commission. Her section on events of a present nature highlighted local
events, such as the 175,000 visitors who came to Lowell during Lowell Folk Festival July 27, 28,
and 29 in 1990. She recorded national news on President Bush sending US troops to Saudi
Arabia to secure American Investments, the estimated $2,000.00 it would cost each individual
taxpayer to bail out the failed Savings and Loans, and a new theory that claimed a Dallas police
officer took part in President John F. Kennedys assassination. Tosi covered international news
on Nelson Mandela announcing the end of African National Congresss 30-year guerrilla war
and Iraqs invasion of Kuwait, which prompted the United Nations to vote in favor of Economic
and Military sanctions against Iraq.
Tosi also thought it important to mention the daily specials at Arthurs Restaurant (Paradise
Diner) in Lowell: ham and cabbage, hamburg loaf, veal cutlet, and chicken and tuna salad
served with homemade potato salad.
The weathervane will likely be regilded in another 70 years from 1990. If this is so, the
information Tosi recorded will be reread in 2060, and another document will be placed into the
time capsule. {Who knows what kind of information we will record in 2060? Perhaps the war in
Iraq, the historic U.S. election of a Black president, and Mars discoveries might make the cut.}
Should I include something like this to close the article?