DERBY – Parents, students, and officials gathered June 24 to unbox a time capsule put together by students of Bradley School 50 years ago.
At a 30-person ceremony held on the school’s front lawn, Derby Public Schools Superintendent Matthew Conway said the capsule, which was organized by the late Bradley School teacher John Ogle, helps keep history alive.
“The contributions that our forefathers and foremothers made and the opportunities they created for all of us and our kids today, and experiences they would never get to live to see through even – today is just one more example,” Conway said.
The capsule was kept in a safe inside the school’s main office for 50 years after it was sealed on June 24, 1976, by members of Ogle’s class. Longtime school secretary Kelly Breault told teacher Alicia Oleneski about the time capsule, who then let other school officials know about it earlier this week.
Linda Ogle, herself a former teacher at Bradley school and John Ogle’s wife, said he was looking down on the ceremony with pride.
“I’m sure he’s looking down at us right now and he’s got a huge smile on his face. So let’s see what’s in it,” she said.
Linda Ogle led the capsule’s unsealing – which contained artifacts ranging from a Derby pennant, to a collection of old hockey cards, to coins from 1965, 1974, and 1969.
The items inside remained in good condition. A separate Derby time capsule unveiled last year had sustained water damage, a fact which Derby Mayor Joseph DiMartino made a lighthearted reference to in remarks to the crowd.
The City of Derby turned 350 years old in 2025 and held a series of events to mark the milestone, including the opening of a time capsule on the Derby Green that had been created in 1975.
“It looks like Mr. Ogle got it right and took the time capsule (and) put it inside. God knows the one in the ground didn’t hold up too well,” DiMartino said, drawing laughter.
The Bradley School capsule also included some classroom and household items, such as pens, bracelets, a smiley face ring and a hair barrette.
“I’m thinking the kids probably put in what they wanted to,” Linda Ogle said with a smile as she pulled two pens out of the capsule.
The Bradley time capsule had originally been sealed shortly after Derby’s tercentennial celebrations. Derby was named as a township on May 13, 1675.
This year, the United States is celebrating its own 300th anniversary, a fact that Conway made reference to in his remarks.
The capsule is “just one more example of what makes Derby Derby, and the people in Derby who they are. It’s just amazing,” Conway said.
Linda Ogle said after the ceremony that her husband was “very dedicated to Derby, and the children and the families of Derby. It was basically his whole life.”
John Ogle passed away in 2015 after a 37-year teaching career in Derby schools, where he was also a basketball coach.
He was “a dedicated teacher, dedicated family man” who loved the New York Yankees and Notre Dame, Linda Ogle said.
Click below for a video of the unveiling.