MONTEVIDEO — Montevideo Superintendent of Schools Wade McKittrick needed only a screwdriver, needle-nose pliers, and a few minutes with a battery-powered grinder to return a small gathering of people to a moment in time almost 83 years gone — Sept. 26, 1940, to be exact.
That’s when a copper time capsule was placed in the cornerstone of what became the junior high and performing arts building attached to the Central High School in Montevideo.
With that structure now razed and gone, McKittrick pried open the copper box and pulled out newspaper clippings, typed rosters of the students and teachers of the day, a 1940 high school yearbook, and for those in the room with him, lots of memories.
“All we have now is memories and a few bricks,” said Dave Lauritsen, who along with Ardy Spray, was on hand to witness the time capsule’s opening on May 19 in the school board meeting room.
Lauritsen and Spray were members of the Class of 1966, the last to graduate from Central High School. It was called the “old fort,” according to Lauritsen, who was also there to represent the Chippewa County Historical Society .
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The time capsule artifacts will be turned over to the Historical Society.
The time capsule was placed in the cornerstone 10 days after the United States started the Selective Service System that would eventually draft many of the graduates of the class of 1940-41 for service in World War II. The time capsule dedication itself came hardly two months before the Armistice Day Blizzard.
For Genevieve Baldus, the time capsule’s dedication came as she began her senior year in a class of 118 students. Baldus, who was present for the time capsule’s opening, told those gathered that she lived in the country at the time. Like everyone else, she had to make her own way to school each day. There was no bus service, she explained.
In 1940, Linda Flickinger’s mother, the late Helen Tweeter, was a ninth-grader in the school system. Flickinger said her mother had told her that her name was included in the time capsule. She was present at the opening and was able to confirm her mother’s account.
Montevideo school voters had approved a $100,000 bond to build the Central High School in 1913 by a 407 to 27 vote. They returned to the polls in April of 1940 to approve $250,000 in bonds by a 624 to 370 vote to build what became the junior high addition and performing arts center, according to McKittrick.
The time capsule’s opening came one week after voters in the district rejected a $54,860,000 bond to improve the district’s academic facilities by a 23-vote margin, 872 “yes” to 895 “no.” Voters also rejected $11,335,000 in bonds to build an 800-seat auditorium by a 31-vote margin, 866 “yes” to 897 “no.”
After graduating in 1966, Spray headed off to college but returned in 1975 to Montevideo as a teacher. She taught at Sanford Elementary for four years, and for four years at Sibley School before it was razed. She taught for 21 years at Ramsey Elementary.
“I loved being there,” said Spray, who had joined with others in looking over the old newspaper accounts. The capsule was about the size of an ammunition box.
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The Montevideo News newspaper clippings it held could only hint at the changes about to come, but told plenty about what mattered at the time. The Hollywood Theater advertised in its pages about the upcoming showing of “Northwest Passage” starring Spencer Tracy and Robert Young. The local car dealer was offering a brand-new Packard for $697. The local dance hall promoted the upcoming Old Time Dance with square dancing and polka music.
Enrollment in grades 9-12 in the Montevideo Schools in 1940 totaled 425, McKittrick said as he prepared to open the time capsule. Today, the enrollment in those grades totals 401, suggesting that enrollment has stayed relatively stable all of these years, he said.
The Trust Project
