A Centennial Time Capsule Reveal Offers a Peek at Hendrick Hudson in 1926
A gathering of wide-eyed students, staff, administration, community members, and alumni enjoyed a journey back in time on Friday, May 1. The Centennial Committee revealed the contents of a time capsule from 1926, which was on display in the school library and included fascinating, 100-year-old documents from when Hendrick Hudson High School first opened its doors.
“When we took all of the papers out of the time capsule, we didn’t know what we would find,” said Dr. Lauren Scollins, the district’s Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction and a member of the Centennial Committee. “But it was really interesting to see what was there.”
The Time Capsule Reveal kicked off a monthlong celebration to commemorate the Centennial. The HHHS library will host a Centennial Heritage Display on May 15-16 that will feature artifacts from the school’s 100-year history. The district will then host its Centennial Gala at Windrose on Hudson in Ossining on May 30.
“We have gathered a lot of athletic items — letters, sweaters, jackets, old cheerleading stuff,” said Beth Gruber, the district’s Resource Development Liaison, who has helped curate the artifacts for display later this month. “We’ll have photos and scrapbooks. In one of the scrapbooks, you can see that our mascot used to be a goat — an actual goat, back in the 1960s. It’s a lot of personal items, yearbooks with inscriptions, and much more.”
The time capsule provided an impressive snapshot from the school’s first year of existence. There were class lists from throughout the district with familiar family names still present in the community. There were also lists of teachers and Board of Education members, copies of local newspapers, and even a well-preserved copy of the school’s own newspaper, The Half Moon.
“Gathering everything and seeing the way things were done differently than they are now, I think it’s so important for our students and families to see,” Ms. Gruber said. “Things were so much simpler then. There were small classes, the kids knew each other, families on every block knew everyone. It’s been really interesting to see how people lived over the years, especially in those early days of the school.”
The artifacts began to tell a story that will only grow richer in the coming days and weeks. In fact, during the Centennial Heritage Display later this month, there will be a screening of a video in the auditorium centering around interviews with alumni and staff members reminiscing about the school’s treasured history.
“One of the themes that has emerged from the interviews is how the community has changed and also hasn’t changed, and how it’s centered around this high school and how this really has become a place where people have come together over the last 100 years,” said Dr. Scollins, who previously served as the school’s principal. “Community members are proud of the high school, proud of what they have done here, and they stay here. I think that says so much about the Hen Hud community.”
