1926.
The Roaring 20's were really roaring.
The flappers were flapping, Calvin Coolidge was President and everybody was trying to figure out this radio thing.
The Yankees were in the World Series, the US Marines were hunting terrorists....in Nicaragua this time.
Here in Baltimore H.L Menken was raising hell....and Archbishop Curley was leading people to heaven.
And on April 7th....a copper box was placed in a cornerstone at the Diocese of Baltimore's new building way out in the country....on Roland Avenue.
'I think the history of the church in just about every area is remarkable in Baltimore. In education of course in hospitals in nursing homes where ever you turn the church had an early start and to have persevered.' Archbishop Edwin O’Brien, the Archbishop of Baltimore says.
The box was found as the old Kirkleigh Villa was being demolished.
Workers were about to smash down a wall when they spotted a big old stone that didn't match the rest of the wall.
The only treasure in the box was the history.
Inside were 83 year old copies of the Baltimore Sun, the legendary Baltimore American, and the Baltimore Catholic Review.
There were two catholic medals, a collection of coins, a copy of the archdiocese’s official yearbook, and a scroll in what looks like a salt shaker that listed important people of the day.
‘We were surprised and pleased at just how well we can find what was in this box and we're just going to add them to the archives of the archdiocese of Baltimore that is housed here.' Saint Mary’s Archivist Tricia Pyne says.
When if first opened back in 1926 the old Kirkleigh villa was a home and a safe place for elderly women and now the land is going to be used for an almost similar purpose....and assisted living center.
To an archivist, the contents of the box are a snapshot of the community and the country.
Community issues like crime and political squabbling are still with us.
But so are issues like faith and hope for the future.
The original Kirkleigh villa was built with a gift from to the diocese by Elizabeth Jenkins.
Her family was one of the oldest catholic families in Baltimore with roots that went back to the founding of the city.
