Time Capsule
Click on the thumbnail image below to view a spread from the spring 2022 issue of UMSON’s magazine, Nursing For/um, with images of the time capsule contents.
The 2047 Time Capsule
When the addition to the School of Nursing building in Baltimore, what we call “the new building,” was completed in 1998, a time capsule was enclosed behind the cornerstone. In conjunction with a building renovation and expansion (lower level and first and second floors) completed in 2022, the School developed another time capsule.
In September 2022, just before the School’s All-Alumni Reunion, UMSON sealed the time capsule in the granite base of the newly constructed sculptural replica of Parsons Hall (the School’s former residence hall, 1922 - 98) in the School of Nursing courtyard, with instructions to open it in a quarter-century (that’s 2047).
What’s enclosed in the stainless-steel capsule?
A collection of items — sourced from ideas contributed by School of Nursing faculty, staff, and students initially through a survey — that we believe reflect what it’s like to be a member of the UMSON community in 2022. Among many other items, here are some examples:
- BLACK LIVES MATTER AND CICADAS: A photo commemorating the Black Lives Matter social movement shows a banner on the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus. A cicada statue, part of an art installation recognizing the emergence of the 17-year Brood X cicada in 2021, appears in the foreground.
- TEXTBOOK: Fundamentals of Nursing is the current, well, fundamental textbook for entry-into-practice students.
- RECENT NEWS STORIES: Among others, Baltimore Sun clippings from 2020 recognize the first identified COVID-19 cases in Maryland and Kamala Harris, the nation’s first woman, first African-American, and first South Asian American vice president.
- VACCINE CLINIC VEST: Worn by Ann Mech, JD, MS ’78, BSN ’76, RN, assistant professor and director of legal affairs, supervisor of students at the 2021 COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the UMB Southern Management Corporation Campus Center, an included vest is a reminder of UMSON’s efforts there.
- PINS: COVID-19 vaccine and UMB Together pins commemorate the nation’s massive effort to vaccinate Americans against COVID-19 and UMB’s campaign to celebrate the return to in-person learning and working after 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT: We all quickly learned what PPE stands for during the pandemic, and a photo shows what some PPE looked like in summer 2020.
- IN UNISON MOUSEPAD: A mouse pad features excerpts of the School’s In UniSON: Together We Commit, Together We Act anti-oppression position statement, launched in 2021.
- HONOR CORDS: The time capsule includes a sample of honor cords that signify organization membership and other honors, worn at graduation ceremonies.
- KN95 MASK: From fall 2021 - March 2022, KN95 masks were either strongly encouraged or required for everyone at UMB-owned and -operated facilities as the nation rode out the Delta and Omicron waves of COVID-19. So a KN95 mask is included.
- VACCINE VIALS AND SYRINGES: You cannot create a record of modern times without including COVID-19 vaccine vials and syringes.
- COVID-19 ANTIGEN AT-HOME TEST KIT: COVID-19 antigen home test kits are a household staple not only for evaluating symptoms to determine if they are a result of COVID-19 but for preventing the spread of the illness by testing prior to attending events and other gatherings.
- 1807: The time capsule contains all three issues (2019, 2020, and 2021) of 1807, UMB’s literary journal, published by the time the time capsule was sealed.
Browse the full list of materials enclosed in the time capsule.