Milford Mirror

Foran High time capsule accidentally unearthed

Thursday, 02 February 2012 15:19

Times and education have changed since 1973, the year a small metal box was buried at the cornerstone of Joseph A. Foran High School.

Crews accidentally unearthed the capsule, which was slated to be dug up in 2073, during recent school construction.

The small box was only hidden for 39 years, 61 years shy of the 100 years it was meant to stay underground.

Still, its contents show that times have changed considerably since the day Foran High School was dedicated on Oct. 25, 1973.

“Possibly when this cornerstone is opened,” wrote then-associate School Supt. Robert O. Blake, “educational thinking will have changed so much that what we think of in 1973 as being modern and representing the best in educational planning may be looked upon as obsolete, if education continues to progress in a positive manner.”

Blake reflected on those words this week, and said that yes, education has progressed in 39 years.

“It has changed with the invention of the Internet and Facebook and all the things going on with modern technology,” Blake said. “Cell phones alone almost make the idea of encyclopedias obsolete. Students can find out anything in the world. So education has changed dramatically in that way, and it’s a positive change as long as it’s not abused.”

School administrators recently adopted a new policy regarding the use of technology, allowing students to tap into Internet networks at school, making Blake’s words all the more poignant.

Donna Chaney, who was the librarian when the school opened and was on hand when the time capsule was placed at the cornerstone, witnessed changes too before she retired in 2005.

“I think the biggest change was in the amount of responsibility that kids had to shoulder in their personal lives,” Chaney said. “Life got complicated for them after the mid-’70s, but they were still kids.”

There are more bits of wisdom in the letters, photographs and a brochure that hid in the time capsule all these years. The late Howard Bullard, who was clerk of the works for the Foran High School building project, wrote of history and the future.

“Recent wars in Asia; the near East war; the rapid growth of radical activist groups; scandals in our courts and our political arenas (Watergate); and strained relations between teachers, parents and students — and in family units themselves, have all seemed to have played a part in the breakdown of our country’s moral fiber,” Bullard stated.

Bullard went on to say that hope for the future rested with education and the moral fiber of family and community.

“Although we all try to prognosticate the future, the only thing we are sure of is what has happened in the past,” he wrote. “However, right or wrong, we should stand by our convictions.”

There is a letter from the late School Supt. Joseph Foran himself, who wrote that he was honored to have the building named for him.

“Many people did the work, and I got the credit,” he wrote. “Knowing that I will not be present at the Centennial festivities, I take this opportunity to wish all of you great happiness as Foran High enters upon its second century.”

A sheet of paper dropped into the capsule from Lyons, Mather and Lechner Architects briefly recounts the building’s construction.

“Excavation started for footings in the Industrial Arts wing” on Monday, Aug. 23, 1971.

A notation midway down the page indicates a carpenter strike slowed work the first week of July 1972. From February to April 1973, 75 men were working each day on the job, and interior equipment was being installed.

The new school opened in September, and the dedication took place in October, school officials said.

There were already two high schools in Milford when Foran High School was built to accommodate a growing student body. Administrators from Milford High School, now the Parsons Complex, and Jonathan Law High School wrote notes for the time capsule, too.

There are well wishes from Roy Lund, David Busch and Mary Lou Duda from Milford High School.

Burtin Glendon, principal of Jonathan Law High School, wrote, “The Joseph A. Foran High School has been needed for a long time to supplement the secondary education for the pupils of Milford.

“As Jonathan Law High was a great asset to the western end of Milford, so is the Joseph A. Foran High an asset to the eastern end of Milford,” he stated.

A roll of pennies was enclosed in the cornerstone time capsule, with pennies from 1937, 1945, 1950, 1957 and scattered years through 1973 Foran officials said.

The contents of the time capsule are available for viewing in the school’s main office during school hours.

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