June 14, 2026 / 9:29 AM EDT
/ CBS News
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As America approaches this milestone anniversary, many celebrations are looking back at our past 250 years, but one looks forward.Tom Medema, project manager for America's Time Capsule, says, "The time capsule gives everybody the chance to talk to the future. It is a form of time travel for ideas and for physical things."Medema is responsible for assembling a team of experts across disciplines – scientists, lawmakers, librarians – to fulfill a 2016 mandate from Congress to honor the semiquincentennial, which states a time capsule shall be buried in Philadelphia at Independence National Historical Park on the 4th of July, 2026, to be unearthed on America's 500th birthday, on July 4, 2276. The law mandates the capsule will contain "books, manuscripts, miscellaneous printed matter, memorabilia, relics, and other materials." Who decides what gets preserved? "We wanted all states and territories and D.C. to be represented, to choose their own objects to submit," said Medema.According to Rosie Rios, the chair of America 250, "It has to be sea-to-shining-sea. It has to be grassroots community-driven. It has to be personal." At the White House Visitor Center, guests can compose their own messages to the future. "The goal is to have as many folks as possible participate in this, and then also choose a select few that will be included in our time capsule," said Rios. The messages being submitted, she said, express "a lot of hope. There's a lot of optimism."But even before choosing what goes inside the time capsule, there's the question of how to ensure those precious items will survive 15 feet below ground until they're unearthed in 2276.
