On April 22, 2013, the Oklahoma Historical Society in partnership with the First Lutheran Church unearthed a 6-ft x 3-ft x 3-ft (1.83m x 0.91m x 0.91m) chest, buried in the church’s basement exactly 100 years prior.
Dubbed the ‘Century Chest‘, the project was created in 1913 by Virginia Sohlberg of the Ladies Aid Society as a fundraiser to help the church purchase a new pipe organ which is still in use today! Space inside the chest was auctioned off to the public to raise money.
The Century Chest’s artifacts were impeccably preserved in airtight, waterproof containers. The chest itself was buried under a 12-inch (30.5 cm) slab of concrete. Removing the chest took over 11 hours and involved removing two 600-pound chunks of concrete and using an engine hoist to get the chest out of its ‘tomb’.
The contents of the chest were unveiled at a live event and Downtown OKC, Inc., a not-for-profit organization, documented the entire experience and posted the photos to an 81-picture gallery on Facebook.
The complete contents will be preserved and exhibited at the Oklahoma History Center later this year. It will be fascinating to discover the content located inside the countless sealed packages and envelopes, as well as going through the box of recorded messages.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
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