1893 time capsule with contents recovered from german zion's evangelical society church building

the bldg. 51 museum just acquired the historically important and virtually untouched c. 1893 time capsule in the form of a diminutive corrugated copper metal box containing several newspapers, typed letters, a bible and other pertinent artifacts stowed away in the former german zion's evangelical society church building cornerstone, located in chicago's ukrainian village.

the heavily oxidized  corrugated copper box has a hinged lid without a lock or closure system, and retains a nicely aged patination from exposure to the elements. the rectangualr-shaped copper time capsule contains several folded up newspapers, including, but not limited to, the chicago times, the chicago daily tribune, and the chicago record dating to august 7th, 1893.  nearly every newspaper covers the columbian exposition or chicago world's fair of 1893 as it was the major ongoing local event occurring during the time of construction.

the hoyne avenue wesleyan church, originally zion's evangelical society, was built in 1893 and represents one of the earliest churches in the neighborhood. in 1930 the building was sold to the hoyne avenue society of the evangelical church, and sold again in 1951 to the illinois conference of the wesleyan methodist church. the church was demolished in 2014 to make way for a condo development containing five residential units.

the neighborhood, ukranian village, is one of chicago's most intact historic residential neighborhoods dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. its architectural character is defined by typical chicago building types from that period: worker’s cottages, two- and three-flat buildings, larger apartment buildings and a few high-style single family residences. though these are commonplace building types in the city, ukrainian village stands out for its overall cohesiveness and physical integrity, evidence of careful maintenance by the generations of ethnic immigrants who settled there.

though known as ukrainian village, the neighborhood was first settled and built by german immigrants. european immigrants who settled in the city’s neighborhoods clung to religious traditions, and built churches, synagogues and religious-based schools, employing architecture to express faith, ethnic identity and pride, leaving neighborhoods such as ukrainian village with a rich and varied inventory of historic religious architecture. the former st. john evangelical lutheran church and school buildings at 913 – 925 n. hoyne avenue are fine examples of this tradition.

the historic and architectural significance of ukrainian village was first recognized in 2002 when a roughly six block area centered on hoyne avenue and thomas street was designated as the ukrainian village chicago landmark district. in 2004 the district was extended southward to include four blocks of walton street, and again in 2006 the district was further expanded to include blocks north and south of walton street.