HUNTINGTON, WV (WOWK) – The City of Huntington is inviting and encouraging the community to participate in creating a time capsule in honor of the city’s 150th Anniversary.
The anniversary committee says it is collecting items from the public to “commemorate the city’s past, present and future.” The goal is to showcase Huntington’s cultural, social, economic and political facets of each generation of residents as well as anyone who has a tie to the city by inviting people, businesses and organizations to help fill the time capsule in “a love letter to the future.”
“We want to provide a diverse and inclusive snapshot of what it means to be a Huntingtonian,” said Scott Lemley, the City of Huntington’s director of innovation and Huntington’s 150th Anniversary committee member. “One of the core elements of the sesquicentennial has always been a time capsule, and we encourage everyone to get involved in this process. We are looking for your stories that can be told to our counterparts 100 years from now and to give them perspective about our city and its residents.”
Committee members say the time capsule is set to be closed on the 200th birthday of Collis P. Huntington, railway magnate and city founder, on Oct. 22, 2021. The capsule will be placed in City Hall to be opened 100 years from now in 2121.
“We want our descendants to open the time capsule and see what Huntington was like in 2021 and what led to our rich history and resilient spirit,” Lemley said. “At its core, we want to write a love letter about Huntington to future generations. Please consider contributing your essays, photos and item proposals to us and be part of this special moment in our sesquicentennial year.”
The city says acceptable items to include in the capsule include photographs, personal essays and item proposals. The photograph and essay submissions are due by Sept. 1, 2021.
Personal Essays
Those who wish to submit a personal essay must keep the length from 500 to 1,000 words, or two pages maximum. People are asked to provide their name, age, title and organization (if applicable), contact information – phone number and email address), their tie to Huntington and a one-to-two-sentence bio.
They can email or submit a digital file of the essay to hwv150@huntingtonwv.gov or online here. The committee says they will print the essays on acid-free paper.
Photos
The requirements for photos are that the image must pertain to the past or present of Huntington. Photos can be in color or in black-and-white.
Those submitting photos are asked to email a digital copy, image file or scan, that is as high-resolution as possible to hwv150@huntingtonwv.gov along with their contact information – phone number and email address.
The committee says they will print the photo on 4×6 photo paper.
Item Proposals
Proposed items for the time capsule must be no larger than 6″x6″x6″ in dimensions. This is about the size of a small ceramic tile, a small jewlery box or a “medium-sized” rose bloom from the Rose Garden in Ritter Park.
Those wishing to propose an item to include can email their ideas to hwv150@huntingtonwv.gov and need to include their name and other contact information in the email.
The committee will contact those whose items are selected.
A full list of acceptable items as well as additional guidelines is available online here and on the city’s website. The committee says they will be vetting story and item selections and submissions do not guarantee an item will be included in the time capsule.
