¶ … Capsule from the 1960's Peers, colleagues, and supporters: this is one of what will presumably become several reports about this time capsule from the 1960s, nearly four centuries ago. I am honored and deeply intrigued by the items found within this time capsule. Hopefully, those of us who are aware of the time capsule will gain a deeper understanding of where humanity comes from, in which directions it might be heading, and the areas of our strengths & weaknesses.

There are many numerous items, yet the items seemed to be organized into collections of five distinct groups. The first collection of items is an assortment of items from the various student movements around the world during this period. Students in many countries organized and publically protested in a variety of ways, the perceived injustices of their societies. There are a lot of posters and flyers advertising student groups, meetings for student political & social activities, as well as flyers promoting general awareness of significant issues.

This collection of material from the world's students is very important for the past and the present. This material shows how great of an influence the students of the 1960s had toward social change. This material additionally shows that student movements were truly forces to be reckoned with. They had voices that demanded to be heard, and the influence of the students could not be ignored by the highest levels of government, in a number of countries at that time. Students of the 1960s were very aware of the struggles of their own people and of the peoples around the world. Students of the 1960s fought and sacrificed for change. During period, they relied upon older forms of social networking to increase information literacy.

The next collection of items from the time capsule excavation is very exciting. It is a collection of ticket stubs, VIP passes, posters, and press passes from a plethora of concerts and musical events from the 1960s. The 1960s are famous for many cultural forms and the music of the 1960s influenced world music for decades and centuries to come, as we, 24th centurions know. There are tickets and backstage passes from the world's most revered artists, singers, musicians, and bands. There are posters from notable clubs and other musical venues. Some of the groups featured in this collection are The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar, the Beach Boys, the Woodstock Music Festival, and many more. There is material from so many memorable, historic moments that were live and ones that were broadcast (television, radio, etc.) The music from the 1960s went on to be called "classic." A lot of musical forms (that became classic in the future) originated or spiked in popularity & innovation during this decade, such as jazz and rock.

This collection of music memorabilia is additionally valuable because this was a period when music and musicians were very much a part of the various movements and struggles for rights around the world. Musicians from this era contributed directly to the advancement of many peace movements. Musicians were a prominent celebrity group that spoke out about global issues such as war, police violence, human rights, and more. Many of the posters that advertise these musical events are works of art in their own right. There were artists who made their careers in the graphic design of concert posters. For hundreds of years, posters from famous concerts have been for sale and often sell for high prices. The music of the 60s was truly unique and influential, so this collection of music memorabilia should bring a lot of the energy or spirit from that time to us hundreds of years later.

Another trait that the 60s are known for are the various fashion statements made during this time. My colleagues and I were surprised to discover a wardrobe full of clothes and world fashions in the time capsule. The wardrobe comes complete with shoes and accessories. The 1960s are well-known for the fashion statements and fashion...

This is a decade famous for some innovative and incredible fashion. This wardrobe from the time capsule is an unbelievable cross-section from around the world, including what was considered at the time, "high fashion," to popular trends, to the most humble & simple. During the 1960s, there was an explosion of subcultures. The counterculture in America, for example, flourished and took many forms. In Europe, the beginning of punk and glam emerged and was new kind of shocking, yet appealing aesthetic for the world.
There was a great deal more awareness of struggles around the world and even before the Internet, there was significant cultural mash-ups and remixes, such as when The Beatles travelled to India to study from Ravi Shankar, and then their music, which was for more widespread in the western world, became influence by Indian culture, and that is one major way Indian culture spread to the west during the 60s, as just one example. The cultural mixing and interacting definitely influenced the fashion, as did the music and musicians of this time also influence the fashions.

Furthermore, even the increased general level of social activism around the world influenced the fashions as more and more marginalized groups arm themselves, trained in combat & warfare, and took guerilla actions. It became more common to wear military fatigues, military jackets, patches, and other clothing more suited for armed warfare. Some of these fashions made it to the mainstream trends, influencing the fashion as well. The fashion of the 1960s is another crisp example or reflection of the spirit of that time.

The fourth collection of items in the time capsule is an array of buttons, protest signs, and other souvenirs from political activities. The 1960s was ripe with various political groups, from the traditional to the radical: there were situationalists, communists, republicans, democrats, anarchists, students, as aforementioned, feminists, and many political movements based on ethnicity & culture. All of these groups organized themselves and took social actions for change. There were lots of pamphlets, letters, buttons, media, and other forms of paraphernalia with information. This truly is evidence of old school networking and social media. Again, the 1960s was one of the most politically active decades of the 20th century. This was a time of increased participation, activity, cultural literacy, and social change. There are meetings from groups such as the Students for a Democratic Society, the Communist Party of China, the Weather Underground, the Black Panthers, Ghandi, and more. We could not have put the experiences of those events in the capsule, yet these posters, etc. represent evidence of that political activity that spanned distance, interests, methods, and goals.

The final, fifth item or collection of items in the time capsule is a collection of the then popular and cutting edge technologies. This collection provides a fascinating sort of technological genealogy from the past to the present. These items show a kind of technological evolutionary chain, which is exciting and cool. Present among these items is the very first computer gaming console, invented in 1966. Gaming became and continues to be an significant industry in the global economy of the 20th to the 24th centuries. The first generations of RAM (Random Access Memory) were invented in this period. This invention is a cornerstone to the marketing and distribution of computers. RAM made lots of memory, at increasing speeds, in smaller sizes absolutely possible. This was critical to the development of the computer industry and later, to the Information Age. Of course, there are lasers that made all kinds of scientific, medical, and movie magic possible. Computer languages like UNIX and BASIC came from this time. External storage such as audio cassettes and compact disks were invented during the 1960s, too. Other items such as handheld calculators, ATMs, bar code…