Michigan’s congressional delegation has announced what it’s submitting for a time capsule to be buried at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center in honor of the nation’s 250th birthday on July 4, 2026.
Each state’s delegation was asked to provide some items and Michigan’s senators and U.S. House members agreed on a Pure Michigan license plate (engraved with “America 250”), a Pure Michigan brochure of the state, a photograph of Michigan U.S. House members in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in front of the statue of President Gerald R. Ford, and a picture of the Michigan’s two U.S. senators.
“We have selected the license plate and brochure because they reflect two defining pillars of Michigan’s identity: our historic leadership as the ‘Auto State’ and our natural heritage as the ‘Great Lakes State,'” the delegation wrote in a letter along with the submission. “The photographs serve as a record of the men and women entrusted with representing Michigan in Congress during the United States’ 250th anniversary, preserving for future generations a snapshot of the state’s federal delegation at this historic milestone.”
The letter was signed by the House members − Reps. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet; John Moolenaar, R-Caledonia; Hillary Scholten, D-Grand Rapids; Bill Huizenga, R-Holland Township; Tim Walberg, R-Tipton; Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor; Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte; Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Bay City; Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township; John James, R-Shelby Township; Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham and Rashida Tlaib and Shri Thanedar, both D-Detroit. U.S. Sens. Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin, both Democrats, were on there as well.
If all goes as expected, the time capsule will be reopened 250 years from now, on the nation’s 500th birthday, July 4, 2276.
By the way, the congressional time capsule is one of at least two being buried in honor of the nation’s semiquincentennial, the other being at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia and also including items from every state and Washington, D.C. Michigan’s proffer is a Petoskey stone, a $1 innovation coin (depicting auto workers on an assembly line), a piece of float copper (commemorating the mining of that mineral in Michigan) and a letter from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Those items were offered by a state commission created to help the state prepare for the 250th birthday celebration.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Pure Michigan in time capsule for nation’s 250th birthday
Reporting by Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
