Mayor Amáda Márquez Simula and Columbia Heights Superintendent Zena Stenvik hold up The Bill of Rights. The capsule was placed during the bicentennial, and many of the items were America-centered. (Clara Ann Bagnoli)
At noon on June 25, approximately 300 people gathered at Wargo Court Park in Columbia Heights to get a glimpse at what the city was 50 years ago.
The last time Columbia Heights residents saw the box was July 1976 at the city’s bicentennial celebration.
After the layer of concrete was removed the day prior, Malcom Watson, 99, was handed the key to unlock the box. Inside, wrapped in plastic and bread ties, were the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence, cassette tapes, Dentyne gum, family letters, town meeting notes, curriculum, slide decks, a film reel, the Columbia Heights directory and charter, yearbooks from both the high school and junior high and science textbooks.
A few people who attended the previous celebration were in the audience. Some of them spoke.
Inside the time capsule were items wrapped in plastic that had been yellowed by the 50 years spent in the box. A folder of Columbia Heights Industrial Arts Curriculum and city directory were a few of the hidden treasures. Center, Malcom Watson holds the microphone as he addresses the audience. Watson was at the placing of the capsule and given the honor of unlocking the box. (Clara Ann Bagnoli)
Ken Heintz wrote a letter which won the VFW writing contest for the bicentennial. That letter was included in the time capsule.
Heintz remembers little of what he wrote while in elementary school, but knows it featured themes of “America’s melting pot.” In his speech, he referenced both of his grandparents who immigrated to the United States. Columbia Heights, he said, is a place where “Each one of us could succeed.”
Watson spoke next, reflecting on his time serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II and serving Columbia Heights. Watson worked with Judge Joseph E. Wargo, who the park is named after, during his 20-year career as the City Manager. Watson remembered Wargo as a “fair judge” who gave people second chances.
Columbia Heights Superintendent Zena Stenvik spoke of the history of the site itself, which used to be the location of the East Ward School until 1920 when the city’s first elementary school, the Silver Lake School, opened. Bricks from this building support the park sign and flagpole which the time capsule was placed in.
Stenvik noted that, especially as of late, Columbia Heights “is never defined by its challenges but how we respond to them.”
Mayor Amáda Márquez Simula, wearing a ‘70s inspired outfit of barrel-cut jeans and a pleather jacket, was the last to speak. She mentioned the importance of time as a marker of change. In the 1970s, Minnesota was just starting to close the doors of the Native American Boarding Schools; now, Columbia Heights hosts an Annual Community Powwow in collaboration with the school’s Native American Parent Advisory Council.
Items retrieved from the capsule will be displayed at the Columbia Heights Public Library, 3939 Central Ave. NE, on July 6 through the end of the month. Then, they will be displayed at Columbia Heights High School, 1400 49th Ave. NE, for their Centennial celebration.