Scope and Content: On July 4, 1795, the cornerstone of  the new Massachusetts State House was laid by Gov. Samuel Adams and Masonic Grand Master Paul Revere, in which was deposited a medal, an engraved silver plate, a selection of state and federal coins, and a silver plaque, between two sheets of lead. (See: State House cornerstone bicentennial files, 1995 ((M-Ar)2307X).  On Aug. 11, 1855, the contents having been previously removed in connection with enlargement of the State House, they were enhanced with further coins, a few newspapers and other publications, with a new inscription added to the reverse side of the plaque, and replaced in the cornerstone in a new lidded brass box, by Gov. Henry Gardner and Grand Master Winslow Lewis. –In Dec. 2014, water infiltration of the State House caused the removal of the cornerstone contents yet again. After opening (Jan. 6, 2015), conservation, and public exhibition (Mar. 2015) of the items by the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) and addition of several new coins and a new silver plaque, the contents of what in modern terms is called a time capsule were once more placed in the cornerstone in a stainless steel container to sit aside the original brass box. As in 1855, an elaborate replacement ceremony took place on June 17, 2015 at the main entrance to the State House, involving Masonic Grand Master Harvey Waugh, Gov. Charles Baker, and Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin, whose office organized the event.
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