Copper box filled with history retrieved from old hospital building

On April 13, 1950, a cornerstone for the new St. Joseph Hospital in Concordia was laid, and ceremony to celebrate the event took place.
Most Reverend Frank A. Thill, D.D., bishop of Salina, blessed the cornerstone and placed within it a sealed copper box containing a number of interesting items presenting the times.
The copper box remained in place for just short of 73 years as St. Joseph Hospital, and later Cloud County Health Center, would serve the people of north central Kansas.
With the opening of the new $40.35 million North Central Kansas Medical Center (NCKMC) last November, the old St. Joseph Hospital building was set to be demolished and the land was gifted to the city of Concordia land bank for the purpose of developing moderate to high income housing.
Pam Campbell, executive assistant at NCKMC, had heard that there was something in the cornerstone, and she contacted Sister Jean Walton, the archivist for the Order of the Sisters of St. Joseph, who was instrumental in the construction of the $1.75 million hospital.
Walton provided Campbell with a copy of the April 12, 1950, edition of The Concordia Blade-Empire, which carried a story about the dedication of the cornerstone and the placing of the box in it.
Campbell said that she reminded people many times that the box had to be removed before the building was brought down.
Hospital maintenance staff attempted to retrieve the box from the inside of the building, but were unable to do so.
Employees of DT Specialized Services, Inc., the company that is demolishing the building, and McCownGordon Construction, the general contractor for the new hospital project, worked together to remove the box from the cornerstone.
“It was quite an endeavor by them,” NCKMC administrator David Garnas said.
Workers had to cut around the cornerstone, chip away stone and then use equipment to pull the box out.
“It wasn’t coming out until the building was coming down,” Campbell said.
The box was delivered to the new hospital on Monday and was cut open and contents removed.
“Everything in there was well preserved,” Campbell said.
Also delivered to the new hospital was the cornerstone of the old building that had been dedicated in 1950. It was to be placed on the grounds.
“We wanted to save the original cornerstone as a tribute to where we came from,” Garnas said.
The contents of the box will also be displayed in the new building.
Among the items in the box was a small tin that had in it a 1950 $1 bill and some coins. There was a note in the tin that said that the bill was signed by the Treasurer of the U.S., Georgia Nease Clarke, a Kansas woman.
In the article that ran in the April 12, 1950, edition of The Concordia Blade-Empire it stated:
“Within the copper box will be placed letters concerning the hospital project which were received by the Sisters of St. Joseph from Governor Frank Carlson and Mayor Mel Cool and the bishop. Today’s issue of The Concordia Blade-Empire and last week’s issue of The Catholic Register will also be sealed within the container. The Sisters secured some 1950 postage stamps, some 1950 issue United States currency and a case of samples of new medicines which have come to use within the last few years, to be preserved within the hospital for generations to come.
“A roster of the members of the Order of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia, living and dead, has been prepared for the copper box. The Sisters feel that the pioneer women who chose as their vocation the founding of the order here in Kansas really laid the groundwork which made possible the erection of the Sisters operating the present hospital will also be placed in the box.
“The Walter Butler Construction company will furnish a gold plated trowel to mortar down the cornerstone.”
The article in The Blade-Empire stated that the city band was to play a 10 minute concert to open the program.
Speakers at the ceremony were to include Mayor Cool; Jack Bowman, president of the Chamber of Commerce; Dr. E. Raymond Galvin, representing the St. Joseph Hospital medical staff; and William Mitsch, vice president of the Walter Butler Construction Company.
Following the ceremony, the Sisters were to serve a dinner at the Motherhouse for the contractors' representatives, the architects and visiting clergy.
Also among the items in the box was an August 3, 1949, edition of The Concordia Blade-Empire, which had a story on the front page about the site for the new hospital being donated to the Sisters of St. Joseph by Dr. and Mrs. Raymond Gelvin, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Bennett and Mr. and Mrs. Milton Sorem.
It stated in the story:
“The site lies across Eleventh Street, directly south of the Bishop's former residence, and is part of the old Truesdell homestead.
“According to the architect's plans, a tract of seven acres equivalent to 3 ½ city blocks, will provide sufficient space for the hospital, a chapel, and Sisters' residence; possibly later on a nurses' residence, driveways, parking space and landscaping to beautify the location. The appraisers evaluated the site at $7,500. James O'Rourke, Gay Busby and H. M. Christensen were the appraisers.
“This gift from the owners of the land give great encouragement to the Sisterhood, and is helping greatly for plans to start construction on the first of September.
“This location in the southwest part of Concordia will give the hospital a beautiful view out over the surrounding country side. The building will not face directly east; but on a sufficient angle to the southeast to admit sunlight into all rooms. The hospital and chapel will be built of Cloud Ceramics brick with white stone trim. The architect and builders give the assurance that this modern institution, so built, will present a splendid appearance on all sides. Ceremonies for the groundbreaking are planned for August 15.”