OCEAN CITY — When a time capsule from 1976 is opened in Philadelphia to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary, some of the children whose names are inside may be from Ocean City.
On Sept. 11, 1976, more than a thousand people gathered at the Lewis Quadrangle at Independence Hall to celebrate the bicentennial and seal a time capsule created by Women for Greater Philadelphia. Among the many things inside the time capsule was a list of the names of 816 children.
According to Christine Fisher Smith, president of Women for Greater Philadelphia, most of the children who took part were from Philadelphia but the group believes some were included through a class project at Ocean City Primary School.
Each student, she said, would have received a certificate commemorating the event “and charging them with carrying the Spirit of ’76 forward to future generations.” They also were tasked with being there for the time capsule’s opening 50 years later and resealing it with other children’s names to be opened in 2076.
“We have found some of the participants and others have found us, but we would like to find many more and invite them to be part of the time capsule opening this fall,” Fisher Smith said.
She said one of the “Time Travelers” whose name was in the capsule remembered that he was in first grade and his sister in kindergarten at Ocean City Primary School and believed it was a class project.
“We are hoping to connect with others from the school who may remember this also, and want to be part of the time capsule opening celebration and perhaps continue the legacy by encouraging others — 18 years old and younger — to enter their names in the time capsule when it is resealed to be opened again for the tricentennial in 2076,” she said.
Fisher Smith said the time capsule contains photos, press releases and invitations, along with letters from then Philadelphia mayor Frank Rizzo and governor Milton Shapp to their successors 50 years later.
Fisher Smith said even before the group began officially searching for the children, some of children found them.
The Women for Greater Philadelphia acts as the non-profit stewards of historic Laurel Hill Mansion in East Fairmount Park. A decade ago, when Fisher Smith was doing holiday tours at the mansion, a woman called to say although she now lives in Michigan, she planned to be at the time capsule ceremony in 2026.
Fisher Smith said a first-generation American mother went to the ceremony in 1976 because it was important for her to be there and bring her three boys who were ages 8, 10 and 13.
“She wanted to know if she could help with the 2026 event,” Fisher Smith said, and the family was talking about getting everyone together for it.
Fisher Smith said she had spoken to a time capsule child from 1976, who came to the event then with her history-loving grandmother. The woman said she had a dream about her grandmother and although she no longer had any paperwork from the event, including the certificate, she searched until she got in touch with the Women for Greater Philadelphia.
“She just knew that her grandmother wanted her to keep her part of the agreement and ‘the privilege and responsibility’ that she was charged with 50 years ago,” Fisher Smith said.
Her organization is looking forward to meeting the time capsule children from 1976 and having them involved with the planning of the new celebration.
“It makes me wonder what our founding members, then known as ‘Women for the Bicentennial’ who started this whole magical program, would think,” she said.
The exact date of the 2026 celebration hasn’t been set yet.
And remember, the next time capsule celebration will be the nation’s tricentennial in 2076.
To get in touch with the organization, go online to womenforgreaterphiladelphia.org/time_capsule.html or call (215) 235-1776.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
