DrWebCentral Library unveils a peek at the L.A. of 1925 – KCRW
Todd Lerew led the team that recovered the century-year-old time capsule. Alexandra Applegate / KCRWCentral Library unveils a peek at the L.A. of 1925
The Los Angeles Central Library’s time capsule contained a scrapbook, coins, old newspapers in multiple languages and an even older time capsule from 1881.
Three people examine some of the contents pulled from a century-old time capsule buried in the LA Central Library in 1925. Photo by Alexandra Applegate / KCRWBy Danielle Chiriguayo • Feb 2, 2026 • 4m Listen
When a time capsule was buried near the LA Central Library’s cornerstone in 1925, staff didn’t leave instructions on how to open it. More than a century later, a recovery team wasn’t even entirely sure where to find it.
But find it they did. To honor the 100-year anniversary of the Central Library, the branch kicked off a year of celebrations by unearthing that century-old time capsule buried during the building’s dedication.
The hunt for the time capsule set off what Los Angeles City Librarian John Szabo describes as “an archeological dig.” The Central Library is listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, as well as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, meaning the preservation of its art-deco design was paramount.
“Getting it through the men’s restroom turned out to be our only option,” explains Todd Lerew, director of special projects for the Library Foundation of LA and the lead on the time capsule’s recovery.
Szabo continues: “We had to take drywall. We had to take the studs out. We had to take one masonry wall out. Then, we had to very carefully go through the back wall of the cornerstone.”
It took a week for Lerew and his team to get around layers of plumbing and limestone blocks. When they finally retrieved the capsule, Szabo couldn’t wait to crack it open: “Being a complete history nerd, I literally put my head inside the time capsule and I breathed in the air, thinking that that was the air that my predecessor, Everett Robbins Perry, was breathing … from 1925.
“It was a little musty, but I didn’t keel over or anything.”
The time capsule, a sealed, custom-made copper box, provided a glimpse into life in LA more than a century ago. Inside were scrapbooks of photos, old coins, and a traffic street plan for 1924.
Todd Lerew led the team that recovered the century-year-old time capsule. Alexandra Applegate/KCRWAnd it also held something else: an additional time capsule. This one was from 1881. It was buried with the cornerstone of the State Normal School, a precursor to UCLA that was originally built where the Central Library is today.
The older capsule included books and pamphlets that provided additional glimpses of 19th century Los Angeles. It also included newspapers in English, German, and Spanish, and mementos from the funeral of U.S. President James Garfield, who was assassinated just months prior to the time capsule’s burial.
All of these recovered items are on display now at the LA Central Library. Szabo says they represent the diversity of the city that stretches back more than 150 years: “It certainly speaks to the evolution of the city, the growth of the city, but it also reminds us that the library has had this very similar, if not the same mission, which is to welcome everyone in the community.”
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