With the greatest of care, the past is revived

In a room adjacent to the council chamber at Franklin City Hall, Mayor Eugene Foulcard, Planning and Zoning Director Glenn Todd and Public Relations Director Ed “Tiger” Verdin stood Thursday over a large table covered with meticulously placed documents, folders and photographs.
“We are very excited at the thought of unsealing some of these letters and finding very heartwarming and touching sentiments written to us 50 years ago,” Foulcard began.
“I always say, ‘He who doesn’t know history will become its victim’. So, we have to study and learn history. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been so excited.”
On Nov. 7, the city of Franklin unsealed a time capsule buried behind the parish courthouse some 50 years ago.
At the time, there was not yet an opportunity to examine in detail the all the contents of the capsule. However, that time had since arrived.
Todd had, by Thursday, already begun cataloging the bevy of historical documents from the capsule, but said that he did not anticipate it being an endeavor rushed, or undertaken in a detached manner.
“We’re going to spread this out,” he said. “Some of these things seem like they are notes written particularly to somebody, so I don’t want to just go and open that. I’d like to reach out and see if we can find them or their family members. Even though (holding a letter) this is the city’s property, we want them to be here when it is opened.”
Foulcard opened a letter addressed to the mayor of Franklin in 2020, from the mayor of Franklin in 1970:
“The citizens of Franklin of 1970 are commemorating the sesquicentennial of the incorporation of the city.
“There is much of our past which we have included in this capsule.
To us, you are the future we are building for. To you, we are the past.
“We hope that you can cherish and be proud of your heritage.
“Sincerely, J.M. Fernandez, M.D., Mayor.”
As for what it was like to open the time capsule, 50 years waiting, Foulcard said, “It was very moving and very touching to have this wealth of information of the citizens from 50 years ago, who left this treasure trove for us to read and peruse. It was very touching. That letter from J.M. Fernandez that was left for me, from mayor to mayor, was touching, and I am still very moved and in awe from all of what was left, and I’m amazed at how well preserved, and how intact everything was.
“I have always been a history fanatic, so just the thought and how well written everything was, and the way they were talking to us, it was like they are still with us. We found connections from our past as we look to our future.”
Todd said he thought it was interesting that in the stories he has come across, it is evident to him that the authors of those stories “put their hearts into them,” and that he hopes the citizens of today’s Franklin will “step up to the plate and do the same,” that another capsule could come to fruition, perhaps in 2021.
“I appreciate what these people did,” he said. “And I look forward to and hope we can do something similar.”
Verdin responded that when he learned the capsule would be opened this year, he wasn’t initially aware of how he would feel toward the import of the contents of the capsule. However, “Once we began the day, it was very moving. It was moving that we were opening up a part of our history that had not been touched in 50 years. So, it wasn’t just stepping back in time—but was them (1970 Franklin residents) stepping through into the future, into today. It put our roles in perspective and had me asking myself, ‘What are we going to do to move Franklin forward, to revitalize Franklin together?’
“It’s exciting to think about what we are going to put in our time capsule, and what the Franklin of 50 years from now will look like. What we do today shapes the Franklin of the future.”
Todd added definitively that the Foulcard administration is working on a time capsule to replace the one opened this year.
“Give us some time to think it out,” Foulcard said, “and also reach out to the groups and organizations we will need in order to do something similar to what we had here, (the 1970 capsule).”
Walking away, it could be heard—the trailing off of such animated discussion as the three enthusiasts had reconvened over the history-laden table.
It was regrettable to have to leave the room where such excellent discoveries were found and waiting, even as hard-soled shoes echoed through the hall to the door.
Yet, solace could be found in the idea that the contents of the capsule are to be displayed on the third floor of City Hall once they’ve been catalogued, for public viewing during business hours, when history comes calling to those who listen.