|
Time Capsule Documentary to Have World
Premiere at Oglethorpe
Atlanta – Time Capsule: Message In a Bottle, the first
documentary ever produced on the subject of time capsules, will have
its world premiere at Oglethorpe University’s Conant Performing Arts
Center on Thursday, November 18 at 8 p.m.
Admission is free and open to the public.
The hour-long documentary examines America’s on-going love affair
with time capsules and traces their evolution from the ancient
pyramids of Egypt to intergalactic time capsules like NASA's Voyager
project led by the late scientist Carl Sagan. Cathleen O’Connell, a
filmmaker from Seattle, Wash. and director of this film, will be in
attendance for the premiere. Her credits include work with the
Smithsonian Institution Filmmakers Collaborative and PBS.
“Interest in time capsules is skyrocketing, thanks to Y2K,”
states O’Connell. “With so many people filling capsules to be opened
in the next millenium, I thought it was a good time to step back and
look at the phenomenon as a whole. And I can’t think of a more
appropriate place for the world premiere than Oglethorpe University,
home of the ‘granddaddy of all time capsules,’ the Crypt of
Civilization.”
The multimillennial Crypt of Civilization was proposed by
Oglethorpe University President Dr. Thornwell Jacobs in the November
1936 issue of Scientific American. This prototype for the modern
time capsule was an effort to provide, for posterity, an
encyclopedic inventory of life and customs from ancient times
through the middle of the 20th century. The Crypt, sealed in the
foundation of Phoebe Hearst Hall on the campus of Oglethorpe
University in 1940, is not to be opened until 8113 A.D. The Crypt
has been hailed by the Guiness Book of World Records as “the first
successful attempt to bury a record for future inhabitants or
visitors to the planet earth.”
The phrase “time capsule” was coined in 1938 by George Pendray, a
Westinghouse public relations man. With Pendray’s help, Westinghouse
buried its headline-grabbing time capsule at the New York World’s
Fair. However, Pendray “borrowed” the idea from Thornwell Jacobs.
Oglethorpe University historian and founding member of the
International Time Capsule Society Paul Hudson delves into the
controversy in the documentary, but the film leaves it to the viewer
to decide “who came first.”
Both O’Connell and Hudson will be present at the November 18
screening at Oglethorpe University.
“We are excited about showing Time Capsule: Message in a Bottle,”
observes Hudson, an internationally recognized expert on the topic.
“We believe the documentary is the finest video interpretive record
of time capsules that exists in the world today.”
The International Time Capsule Society (ITCS) was founded in
1990, 50 years after the sealing of Oglethorpe University's famed
Crypt of Civilization. Founding members include Knute "Skip" Berger,
a writer; Dr. Brian Durrans, anthropologist and deputy keeper in the
ethnography department of the British Museum; William Jarvis, head
of acquisitions / serials at Washington State University Library;
and Paul Hudson. For more information, visit the ITCS webpage at
http://www.oglethorpe.edu/itcs.
Oglethorpe University is an independent, highly selective,
coeducational liberal arts university located at 4484 Peachtree Road
in northeast Atlanta. Founded in 1835, Oglethorpe University is
dedicated to producing graduates who are broadly educated in the
fundamental fields of knowledge and the basic concepts and
principles of their disciplines.
Note to Editors:
Paul Hudson is available for interviews. He may be reached at
(404) 364-8315. Cathleen O’Connell is also available and may be
reached by calling (206) 933-0483.
###
|
