Capturing a Moment in Time

Black and white photograph of objects chosen for the Liberty Memorial Association's time capsule. Included are a series of blocks for newspaper prints, photographs of important people, an American flag, and a variety of containers.

In 1924, as the cornerstone for the Liberty Memorial Tower was being placed, the Liberty Memorial Association provided a time capsule to be left for the people of Kansas City 100 years later. The capsule included objects from local, national, and even global history, capturing the memory of the Great War, the country, and the space. In this lesson, students will discover how and why time capsules are created, in order to thoughtfully design their own time capsule.