SALT LAKE CITY-In information released Wednesday, this past May 20, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints investigated the contents of the Salt Lake Temple time capsule.
Church president Russell M. Nelson, first counselor President Dallin H. Oaks and second counselor President Henry B. Eyring discovered newspaper records from the time of the Salt Lake Temple’s dedication (April 6-24, 1893) as well as materials inside the northern, eastern, southern and western portions of the capstone.
Some of the materials inside the capstone, such as a copper plate, coins and medallions are in good condition presently.
The gold-leafed copper plate, discovered in the northern cavity, is inscribed with the names of the church’s general authorities who were present at the laying of the capstone.
This was done April 6, 1892.
Roughly 400 coins were discovered inside the concrete, primarily nickels and dimes, although there were some pennies and quarters as well.
There were also six-pence coins (circulating in England until 1980), as well as threepence coins (circulating in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa until 1970), half-dimes (circulated in the United States until 1873) and three-cent pieces (circulated in the United States until 1889).
Per a report from the Salt Lake Herald Republican, minutes before the signal came to place the capstone, “every man on the platform eagerly thrust out a dime or nickel or a quarter of a dollar onto the bed of cement applied atop the bottom half of the stone.”
In the eastern and southern cavities of the capstone, the Church’s conservation team located 12 books, including five in the east and the other seven in the south.
These volumes include:
-Parley P. Pratt’s A Voice of Warning (published 1837)
-Parley P. Pratt’s Key to the Science of Theology (published 1855)
-A copy of The Book of Mormon (probably an 1880’s or 1890’s edition)
-A copy of The Pearl of Great Price (a part of the Church’s scriptural canon since 1880).
-The Martyrs: A Sketch of the Lives and a Full Account of the Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith (published in 1882; written by Church missionary Lyman Omer Littlefield.
-The Holy Bible
-Letters exchanged between Latter-day Saint theologian Orson Spencer and the Rev. William Cromwell.
Located in the western cavity were seven photos. These consisted of photographs of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, Joseph F. Smith and the Salt Lake Temple.
Historians investigating the contents deduced that these photographs are cabinet cards. This means these are photographs consisting of a card typically measuring 108 by 165 mm.
These photos have been laminated together because of the moisture caused by the concrete trapped within the capstone. This means no photographic image remains at this stage.
It is believed that the cabinet cards came from C.R. Savage, a well-known Salt Lake City photographer at the time.
Church History Department staff now plan to catalog each item into its vast collection of historical material.
The contents may also be put on public display although the items are fragile.
