From the transcript of an August 2023 ceremony marking the unveiling of a time capsule discovered under a nineteenth-century monument at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

jennifer voigtschild: Are we ready to see what is in that box?

audience: Yeah!

steven w. gilland: This is pretty cool. I mean, think about it. When’s the last time a time capsule has been opened here? Nobody has any idea what’s inside of it.

shane r. reeves: That thing has been sitting undisturbed for one hundred ninety-four years, right here at West Point. I hope it’s cool. I hope it’s awesome. I can’t wait to see what’s in there.

voigtschild: Our archeologist has done a thorough inspection of the box. What do we see?

paul hudson: Nothing quite yet . . . You wanna take a look, Mike?

michael diaz: Oh, I don’t . . . That curve-shape tells me it might’ve used to have been something?

voigtschild: Paul and his panel of experts are discussing the best way to find what may be in the box. While they’re doing that, we’re going to turn to our panel of historians. Why do you believe it’s important that the monument was placed here in 1829?

rory mcgovern: It’s all about connections.

robert mcdonald: It is incredible when you think about it. 1829: one hundred ninety-four years ago. One hundred ninety-four years from now, it will be the year 2217.

seanegan sculley: What I like about what this project has brought to light is not as much about what we do know, but what we still don’t know.

samuel watson: History is always discovering more.

voigtschild: Paul, do you want to give us an update?

hudson: Sure, Jenn. The box didn’t quite meet expectations. There is a layer of silt that settled in the bottom.

voigtschild: All right. Thank you for that.