Time Capsule Tuesday: 50 Years of Waiting. One Day of Celebrating.

Peter Bent Brigham Hospital leadership pack a time capsule in 1963 for the leaders of the hospital in 2013.

On May 7, staff throughout BWH will be invited to step back in time to 1963 and learn what was on the minds and in the hearts of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (PBBH) leadership at the time.

To celebrate their hospital's 50^th anniversary, PBBH leaders sealed letters to their successors in 2013 in a time capsule. The contents of those letters will be shared publicly for the first time during Time Capsule Tuesday, May 7, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m., in the Bornstein Amphitheater, and broadcast via webcast.

Several BWH physicians will read letters from their 1963 counterparts, offering insight into how staff at that time thought medicine and the hospital in general would change in the next 50 years.

Of special interest to physicians may be the letter from Francis D. Moore, MD, the surgeon in-chief in 1963, to Michael Zinner, MD; a letter from physician in-chief George W. Thorn, MD, to Joseph Loscalzo, MD; and a letter from John R. Brooks, MD, assistant clinical professor of Surgery, which will be read by his son David Brooks, MD.

Physicians Peter Tishler, MD, Betsy Nabel, MD, Adam Kibel, MD, Steven Seltzer, MD, and Jeffrey Golden, MD, will also read letters from their predecessors, revealing how they thought the practice of medicine would evolve and what the BWH campus of 2013 would look like, among other interesting predictions for the future and descriptions of hospital life in 1963.

Journey of a Time Capsule
The time capsule was ceremonially handed over for safekeeping to J. Linzee Coolidge, the hospital's youngest trustee, at the 50^th anniversary gala dinner on May 30, 1963. It was placed in the vault at State Street Bank, which agreed to send a letter to the hospital each year to remind us of the time capsule's existence. This system worked well until State Street decided to get rid of its bank vault, leaving the time capsule without a resting place and upending our predecessors' careful plans.

The time capsule eventually found its way to the archives at Harvard Medical School's Countway Library, but memories of its existence slowly faded as the years passed and staff retired.

In 2009, BWH archivist Cathy Pate came across a reference to the time capsule in an old letter. She combed through the archives and rediscovered the time capsule tucked away in a box, just in time for its scheduled opening.

On Time Capsule Tuesday, hospital leaders will read and reflect on letters they received from their 1963 counterparts. Were their predictions accurate? And what will today's leaders predict for 2063? All members of the BWH community are invited to attend.  A reception will follow in Cabot Atrium featuring a special display of artifacts from the hospital's past.