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While tearing up the floorboards of an old school building in Texas to create a new community center, contractors came across an accidental time capsule. Under the stage of the League City School building, they found a purse that was filled with memories and mementos revealing what life was like for a teenage girl in the 1950s.
“There was a mini calendar and the dates and entries stopped in April 1959 so we assume it was lost in April 1959,” explains Erika Fernandez, communications specialist with Clear Creek Independent School District. As staff members went through the handbag, they were able to figure out who its owner was. Based on the photos, they conclude it belonged to Beverly Williams, who was born in 1946. Inside they found childhood pictures, notes, a handkerchief, a nail file set and a diary that show what her daily life was like.
Through the diary, Sarah Osborne, director of communications and community engagement for League City, says they learned about dances Beverly went to and the boys she liked. “It was like we were living through somebody’s social media page of today,” Sarah explains. Richard Lewis, vice president of the League City Historical Society, says the photos of Beverly's family reveal details about her family. He says Beverly was born in 1945, was the youngest of four sisters and that she passed away in 2016, but he was able to find her daughter, who was “blown away” by what the historians told her of her mother’s teenage life.
Source: Houston Chronicle