TODAY, the dignitaries gathered in W.L. White Auditorium to seal the sesquicentennial vault — documents and memorabilia collected in 2007 as the city celebrated its 150th year. The vault is to be opened in 2057 as, we hope, Emporia prepares to celebrate its 200th birthday.
What that Emporia will be like, we have no idea. The past 50 years have made so many physical changes in the city and changes in the lives of its people that a Rip Van Winkle who fell asleep in a quiet grove at Peter Pan Park in 1957 and awakened in 2007 would have marveled at the new city and the new world that had sprung into being.
We assume that the same sorts of changes will continue over the coming 50 years. But what those changes will be and what they will mean for the people of Emporia, we have no idea.
We do know some of the things that could shape that new world — changes in technology, climate, politics and the global economy. A big factor will be the continuing change in the way Emporians perceive their lives — what they assume to be true about the present and what they expect from the future.
Based on last year’s opening of the 1957 vault, we can predict that when the next vault is opened in 2057, it will provide some diversion for the people of the city. The things it contains will seem quaint, but not terribly important.
The real message from the people of Feb. 20, 2008 to the people of 2057, after all, will not be contained in the vault. The message is the vault itself.
This is what it says:
“We were here. Don’t forget us.”
Patrick S. Kelley
Editorial Page Editor