In 1956, Nebraska author Mari Sandoz made some astounding predictions of what life would be like in 2006. They were included in a recently opened time capsule.
On Friday, September 29, 2017 a panel of dignitaries encapsulated their own projections about what the future holds for Nebraska as recognition of the state's sesquicentennial. The time capsule was buried near the Sandoz statue outside the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center on the campus of Chadron State College.
The event commenced with a talk by Sandoz Board member and retired history professor John Wunder of Lincoln. He discussed Mari's original predictions along with the predictions written for this day. His talk, "Mari Sandoz and Her 1956 Fifty-Year Predictions" placed her writing in the context of her life in New York City and the peak of her writing productivity (four books published and two others prepped) from 1953-1957. She also learned she had cancer, survived the death of two close friends and a devastating fire in her apartment.
Board member Deb Carpenter Nolting of Bushnell led the afternoon's activities with a discussion of the new time capsule contents while nationally recognized poet Jovan Mays will led a writing workshop helping to direct participants as they wrote their own predictions of the future.
Nebraska 150 committee member Becky Herian of Alliance, Mays, singer songwriter Martin Gilmore, Donette Lone Hill, Mercedes Iron Cloud and board member Ron Hull of Lincoln spoke at the time capsule burial.
The time capsule burial was a Nebraska Sesquicentennial Commission recognized Legacy Project.
