A time capsule planted in the cornerstone of a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania school in 1949 was salvaged in the nick of time before demolition crews cleared the site for a new building earlier this month. Alumni of the DePaul School for Hearing & Speech got wind of the development and contacted new owner, David Matta to let him know where he could find the time capsule. Matta said they successfully unearthed the copper box. He says, "I told my guys on site - keep proceeding as normal - until you get near the cornerstone and then let's approach that with caution."
Pittsburgh's Action News 4 witnessed the opening of the capsule in the company of several former students. In 1908, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh and the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill founded what is now known as the DePaul Institute, a K-8 school for children with hearing loss. DePaul occupied the property in Brookline from 1911 until relocating nearby in 2002. The perfectly preserved time capsule placed in the cornerstone of the original building held papers, pictures, coins from the 1800's and religious items. Newspapers show Reverend Thomas F. Cookley blessing the building cornerstone 71 years ago when the time capsule was placed inside. According to news reports, 400 people attended that dedication ceremony. And the school is still going strong today. Sister Mary John Moore, a teacher at DePaul says, "This is a link to the past and a link to the future and part of the long history of doing wonderful things."
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