Decades-old time capsules discovered in newly renovated Tribune Tower

CHICAGO — In 1922, the Chicago Tribune co-publishers Col. Robert R. McCormick and Capt. Joseph M Patterson announced an international competition for the design of Tribune Tower. The winning entry was designed by New York architects John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood.

A century later, the soaring vertical lines, flying buttresses and rich embellishments on Tribune Tower soar high into the Chicago skyline and remain undiminished in their power to draw the eye and inspire the imagination.

In recent years, the Tribune Tower has gone under a major restoration, modernizing much of the historic building. In the process, more than 100 historic items were found in three separate time capsules discovered in the renovation of the building.

The capsules were found in the walls of three different sections throughout the building. The printing plant building was completed in 1920, the tower was completed in 1925, and the centennial building was completed in 1950.

Chicago History Museum Director of Exhibitions Paul Durica and Managing Principal of Golub & Company Lee Golub opened the capsules in the historic lobby of the Tribune Tower. They found items ranging from a baseball, possibly from the 1919 World Series, to vintage cartoon books, and photographs of a football game at Soldier Field from 1947.

They also unearthed a press stamp of a 1907 cartoon by John T. McCutcheon, a centennial edition of the Chicago Tribune, legal briefs, pamphlets, motion pictures, and recordings of speeches by Robert McCormick (founder of the Chicago Tribune).  

To learn more bout the history of the building, click here.

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