Atlantic City Post Office Time Capsule Collection

Title:   Atlantic City Post Office Time Capsule Collection

Date:   c. 1896 - 1936

Collection Number: H070
Extent: 1 Oversized Box (1.0 cubic feet)

Repository: Atlantic City Heritage Collections, Atlantic City Free Public Library, 1 North Tennessee Avenue, Atlantic City, NJ 08401, (609) 345-2269.

Preferred Citation: Atlantic City Post Office Time Capsule, Alfred M. Heston Collection, Atlantic City Free Public Library.

Creator: CRDA and Atlantic City Post Office

IN-DEPTH INFORMATION ABOUT THE COLLECTION

Historical Information:

This collection contains materials from the Atlantic City Post Office’s time capsule from 1936. The post office stood at the corner of Pacific and South Illinois Avenues (now, Martin Luther King Blvd.) The cornerstone for the building was laid on April 4, 1936 and this building was the main post office in Atlantic City until 2008, when the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority approved the demolition of the building. The decision to take down this building came during the early 2000s because of the widening of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

At the cornerstone laying in 1936 several local figures spoke at the ceremony including Atlantic City Postmaster Thomas Stewart, Congressman Isaac Bacharach, and Mayor White. The building was officially dedicated on February 22, 1937 and murals were installed in the building under the Works Progress Administration Artists project.

The time capsule was opened on July 20, 2010.

Scope and Content:

This collection was donated to the Library by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) as part of a time capsule from the Atlantic City Post Office that was built in 1936. The cornerstone from this building was removed and the time capsule was opened on July 20, 2010. The materials were transferred into the library’s collection in April 2012.

Materials in this collection include photographs, correspondence, newspapers, land deeds, a program, building information, and business cards.

Much of the correspondence in this collection includes letters about whether different people can attend the ceremony on April 4, 1936. Several notable people wrote letters including New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Joseph B. Perske, Major William F. Casey an Atlantic County Commissioner, and the United States Postmaster General James Farley.

Two newspapers are also included in the collection from the Atlantic City Press and the Atlantic City Evening Union from April 4, 1936. These papers featured articles about the execution of Bruno Richard Hauptmann was convicted of the kidnapping and murder of aviator Charles Lindbergh’s son.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged in one series.

Folder Listing:

Box 1  Folder 1           Building Information

            Folder 2           Correspondence

            Folder 3           Correspondence

            Folder 4           Correspondence – Casey

            Folder 5           Correspondence – Perskie

            Folder 6           Photographs – Harrold, John Jr.

            Folder 7           Photographs – Leeds, Millicent

            Folder 8           Souvenir Programs

            Folder 9           Newspaper front page

            Folder 10         Newspaper front page

Item Listing:

Copper box, 15 x 7 x 3.5 inches (used as time capsule, embedded in cornerstone of former Atlantic City Post Office at Pacific Ave. and Martin Luther King Blvd.

Materials found in the Atlantic City Post Office Time Capsule:

• June 1904, Atlantic City Semi-Centennial Program (published, 23 p.)
• Summer 1897, 4” x 6” sepia photograph, John Harrold, Jr.
• 1930s, 3” x 4” sepia photograph of painting of Millicent Leeds
• Listing of deeds for post office land (2 land tracts), 1872-1934 (6 p.)
• 4/4/1936, Howard A. Stout, Architect, listing of draftsmen, designers and architects (1 p.)
• 4/3/1936, Sidney B. Strouse, Engineer, listing of mechanical and electrical engineers (1 p.)
• 4/4/1936, D.M.W. Contracting Co. (Brooklyn NY), listing of officers of construction company (1 p.)
• 2 newspapers, dated April 4, 1936:
  • Atlantic City Press
  • Atlantic City Evening Union
• 3 business cards:
  • Edwin H. Coward, MD, Exalted Ruler, BPOE #276 (Atlantic City)
  • M.T. O’Brien, Postmaster (Pleasantville, NJ)
  • Richard E. Wheeler, President Wheeler Coal Co. (Atlantic City)
• 15 letters:
  • 3/25/1936, Joseph Altman, Prosecutor of Pleas, Atlantic County (1 p.)
  • 4/2/1936, Harry Bacharach, President of NJ Board of Public Utility Commission (1 p.)
  • (undated), W. Warren Barbour, US Senator [unsigned] (1 p.)
  • 4/4/1936, Major William F. Casey, Atlantic City Commissioner, Department of Public Works (1 p.)
  • 3/26/1936, William S. Cuthbert, Atlantic City Commissioner, Department of Public Safety (1 p.)
  • 4/3/1936, William S. Cuthbert (1 p.)
  • 4/2/1936, James N. Farley, US Postmaster General (1 p.)
  • 3/25/1936, Judge W. Lindley Jeffers, District Court of Atlantic City (1 p.)
  • (undated), A. Harry Moore, US Senator [unsigned] (1 p.)
  • 3/26/1936, Frank B. Off, Atlantic City Commissioner, Department of Revenue and Finance (1 p.)
  • 3/25/1936, Joseph A. Paxson, Atlantic City Commissioner, Department of Parks and Public Property (1 p.)
  • 3/25/1936, Joseph B. Perskie, Justice, NJ Supreme Court (1 p.)
  • 3/28/1936, S.W. Purdum, 4^th Assistant Postmaster General (1 p.)
  • 3/25/1936, William Frank Sooy, Vice Chancellor, Court of Chancery of New Jersey (1 p.)
  • 3/25/1936, Robert L. Warke, Jr., Judge Atlantic City Court of Common Pleas (1 p.)

OTHER INFORMATION FOR USERS OF THE COLLECTION

Access Points:

New Jersey -- Casino Reinvestment Development Authority

Atlantic City (N.J) Mayor

Post office buildings -- New Jersey

Processing Note: The collection is processed. Finding aid written by Pam Richter, archivist on October 2012.

Copyright Notice: While the Atlantic City Free Public Library owns the collection, the Library may not own the copyright for the materials. Researchers wishing to reproduce materials are responsible for obtaining the proper permission.