Sandburg commemorates 60th anniversary by opening time capsule
On the day Sandburg celebrated its 60th anniversary, members of the college community took a trip back in time.
Sandburg faculty, staff, students, alumni and others from the area gathered for a Founders Day celebration Sept. 24 in the Graham Health System Science & Technology Center Atrium. The date marked the 60th anniversary of voters approving the establishment of the college, and the first classes in Sandburg’s history took place just shy of a year later, on Sept. 18, 1967.
The event included a display of Sandburg’s history through each decade, and it featured items from a time capsule sealed in 1976 as part of the college’s 10th anniversary. It was placed in what was then the exterior of building D and is now inside the college’s Public Safety office. The tin capsule was inserted into the brick wall and covered with a block engraved “1976.”
College officials opened the time capsule earlier last week, ahead of the Founders Day celebration. Inside it were letters from then-president Eltis Henson (the first president in Sandburg history), the student trustee at the time and the faculty council chairman in 1976.
Other items in the time capsule included college catalogs from 1975-76 and 1976-77, a photo of the original board of trustees, a program from the 1976 practical nursing graduation and a copy of the college’s newsletter from spring 1975, which featured a story on the groundbreaking of the first permanent buildings on what’s now the Galesburg campus.
Items from the 1976 time capsule are on display in the Sandburg library. The college plans to collect current-era items throughout the course of the year and reseal the time capsule so it can be opened by a future generation.
Sandburg President Dr. Seamus Reilly summarized Henson’s letter, which was produced on a typewriter and includes the salutation “TO WHOMEVER MAY OPEN THIS BOX.”
Henson’s letter noted Sandburg’s initial decade had been trying but rewarding. The college had grown from 300 students to more than 3,000. It had also expanded its district, increased its tax base, earned accreditation and established itself as a reputable place of higher learning in the community.
“The ability of Sandburg College to overcome serious problems and to become highly recognized for quality of education and service of its people can be attributed to the strong and dedicated personnel who have made up the board of trustees, the faculty and the staff,” Henson wrote.
“Fifty years later,” Reilly said, “I can tell you that those words still ring true. A college is not its buildings. It is not its classrooms. It is not even its name on a diploma. A college is its people, and most importantly, it is our students.”
While the college has had numerous physical changes and modes of instruction have evolved, the Sandburg of those many years ago shares several qualities with the one that exists today, and its core mission, Reilly said, remains the same.
“What is most interesting about this letter isn't the numbers,” Reilly said. “It is what he believed those numbers represented. He wrote that Sandburg had a responsibility to play an even greater role in the lives of the people of the district, and he challenged those who would follow to continue improving not only the quality of instruction but the quality of the life of the people Sandburg serves. It's a remarkable message to receive 50 years later, because while the college has changed in countless ways, that fundamental responsibility has not.”
Krista Winters, assistant professor of biology and current faculty representative to the board of trustees, read a letter from the time capsule dated Oct. 29, 1976, and written by Art Williamson, who was chairman of the faculty council.
“It is impossible to predict what changes in education and delivery systems will be made in the next 50 years,” Williamson wrote. “I know there have been tremendous changes in the past seven years that I have been on the faculty. If we are lucky, we will move into the permanent facilities in about a month. I wonder what changes will be made in them by the time you read this.”
“There’s a lot,” Winters quipped.
Theo Salim, the current student representative to the board, shared a letter to the 2026 student body written by 1976-77 student trustee Ron Rabernort.
Rabenort’s letter closed: “Finally, I would like to wish you all the best rewards possible, for an education cannot be simply measured in dollars and cents, but rather it is the inner fulfillment of a lifetime. Peace be with you all.”
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