Emerson Keller Elkins died 13 years ago but left a little something behind that will keep his name alive, his own personal time capsule:
Workers renovating the Indiana Memorial Union found a letter hidden inside a wall nearly 70 years ago, a message its writer said he didn't know would ever be read.
The letter, dated Jan. 15, 1939, mentions Hitler and Mussolini, conflict between Japan and China and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's problems with Congress.
The typed two-page letter was written by Emerson Keller Elkins, who was a college student working in the union building.
"This is just a note written for no particular purpose and with no idea of when or by whom it will be read - if ever it is read," the IU junior wrote. "However, the plastering work in the new men's lounge doesn't look too solid to me so I'm sticking this in there on the off chance that it will be discovered while the place is undergoing repairs sometime in the future."
It was found last week during a renovation to add a coffee stand at the union, which opened in 1932.
What a cool thing to do and what a great find. I love history books that are based on personal journals, notebooks and correspondence. As much as a good historian can put the past in perspective, the view of ordinary people who lived through the times is often lost.
And if anybody stumbles across this post in 67 years or so (they say this stuff will be floating around in cyberspace forever), HELLO FROM 2006. It was a stinking hot day today, and the idiots were setting off the fireworks already. President Bush is hanging in there, and we're still confused about daylight-saving time. My secret stash of gold coins and bearer bonds is . . .
. . .Oh, you don't care about that. You probably won't even be using money in 2073.
