Carolinian

Issue date: 10/10/06 Section: Life

Media Credit: Luke McIntyre In 2042, this time capsule will be opened and replaced, just as the one before it was in 1992.

Near the check out desk in the Jackson Library, immediately before the connector that leads into the EUC, is a modern looking, ceramic geode time capsule. The capsule defies the traditional burial approach, remaining on display as a piece of modern art.

In the fall of 1991, UNCG flyers entitled "Celebrate our Century 1892-1992" circulated throughout campus advertising a $750 prize for the person who designed the best replacement for UNCG's existing time capsule, which was buried in 1942. On October 4, 1991, Trey Sharpe, a 24-year-old senior majoring in sculpture and religious studies, was announced the winner of the contest. That same day a 50-year-old square, metallic green time capsule was excavated, containing memorabilia from WWII.

According to the fall 1992 edition of Bulletin found in UNCG's archives, Sharpe spent between 150 and 200 hours of combined work on the capsule. Of the total $750 prize, $250 went towards the design, and another $500 reimbursed the varying expenses of materials. Emmy Mills, the former Special Collections Librarian who retired in 1997, stated that the time capsule would belong "at an appropriate site on campus, and it will be available for viewing." The Weatherspoon Art Gallery was briefly considered as the display location for the capsule, but ultimately the Jackson Library was decided as the best possible location, considering that the nature of the library and the time capsule both gravitated towards the same cause of holding knowledge and history.

Trey Sharpe's time capsule is filled with memorabilia from 1992. The geode contains various magazine covers, including Newsweek, Wilderness, and Life; a replica piece of the Berlin Wall, which fell in November 1989; centennial related items, such as bumper stickers, scratch-n-sniff stickers, pennants, and t-shirts; a 1992 Ross Perot campaign bumper sticker; various photographs, ranging from the graduating class of 1992 to the construction site of the now completed Tower Village Apartments, Chancellor Moran cutting a Centennial cake, and of Trey Sharp; and, ironically, a parking ticket from UNCG, reflecting the personal hassles of student life.

Every item placed into the geode time capsule required that it preserve well both physically and spatially. Some questionable items, such as a petri dish with a bacteria sample, as well as various large documents, were placed into the 1942 capsule for storage. During UNCG's 150th birthday celebration in 2042, Trey Sharpe's modern time capsule will be opened and once again be replaced.

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