STRANGERS IN THE BOX Next year is the 300th anniversary for the founding of the city of Detroit and there will be many celebrations held throughout the city all year long. First, on January 1, 2001, there will be the opening of a time capsule that was sealed one hundred years ago. The capsule will contain articles and information that pertain to the period of time when it was sealed. In conjunction with this historic event, the city will be sealing another capsule containing information from the present and to be opened on Jan 1, 2101 in downtown Detroit. I’m sure that all the photos in these capsules will contain names of the faces that we will view for the first time in one hundred years. We will surely recognize the famous people; but what about the people who built the city with their hands and labor. The shopkeepers, steel mill workers, teachers, bus drivers, cable car operators, street vendors, blacksmiths, fishermen, doctors, nurses and the many others. Will these people be included in the time capsule sealed one hundred years ago? The unions had a large part in the building of the city of Detroit and will be making sure they are recognized for their efforts during the celebrations. The history of the UAW goes back to the 1930’s. There are over 60 years of history that needs to be retraced in just a few months. Local 892 is working on its history that spans 60 years. However, we are lacking photos containing the names of the people and the event where they were taken. Researching is very time consuming, tiresome, and taxing of your patience. If you have any information that can help us, please send it to the local. As I was doing this research, I received a poem that I found very fitting for the occasion. I would like to share it with you. Come, look with me inside this drawer, In this box I’ve often seen, At the pictures, black and white, Faces proud, still and serene. I wish I knew the people, These strangers in the box, Their names and all their memories, Are lost among the socks. I wonder what their lives were like, How did they spend their days? What about their special times? I’ll never know their ways. If anyone had taken time, To tell, who, what, where, and when, These faces of our heritage, Would come to life again. Could this be the fate, Of the pictures we take today? The faces and the memories, Someday to be passed away? Take time to save your stories, Seize the opportunity when it knocks, Or someday you and yours, Could be strangers in the box. Thanks to Vicki Milosh for sharing this poem with me.
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