Within the walls of the upper A-wing, there is a hidden gem: a time capsule with hundreds of artifacts representing the events and culture of DHS beginning from 1984 to the early 2000s. The Mirror recently met up with Ed Morneau, the founder of the capsule, to learn the story behind one of DHS' most unique nooks.

Morneau, a former DHS English and Media teacher, built and arranged an array of nicknacks. He began this project as a lover of scrapbooking. Growing up, his uncle worked at the Boston Globe and would bring home extra newspaper clippings, which he would then use to create scrapbooks. He would also collect small pocket magazines from which he was encouraged to cut out pictures in order to tell his mother a story. Both of these experiences led to a love for making collages that would eventually turn into the creation of the DHS time capsule.

The time capsule is located in the school psychologist suite, tucked away and unknown to most students. However, in Morneau’s words, the room was once “one of the busiest rooms in the school, the central nervous system of DHS's Audio-Visual Department.” The room functioned as a distribution point for all audio visual equipment as well as a printing center. 

Before digital technology was implemented in the high school, teachers would sign up for any equipment they needed during the day through the media department, which media students would then deliver. Classrooms did not have projectors in those days. Instead, tube-style televisions were rolled around from classroom to classroom on wheeled-carts.

In addition to collecting artifacts from his students, Morneau also contributed many of his own items, including guitar shaped hall passes, Beatles memorabilia, and even a teepee. 

“This is like a diorama in a way, a three dimensional collage of artifacts of things I was interested in and things my students were interested in,” Morneau reflected.

One of the memorable items includes car keys to a Volkswagen that can allegedly be found within the display. Morneau explained a few students were rumored to have buried the car somewhere in Dedham then put the keys in this time capsule wrapped up in a small paper box labeled “Here Lies Roger Rabbit”- a reference to a popular movie from the late 80’s, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” Additionally, the display contains several John Lennon-related clippings, as his murder had made national news in 1980. 

Other notable student contributions include various parts of old school projects. Morneau recalled one project that asked the question, “If you were to send something out into the universe that said something about humanity without using words, what would it be?”  To answer that question, one student created a detailed model of the solar system painted with the birth of man from fish to reptile to animal made out of toothpicks. This visual representation of evolution can be found in small parts within the capsule.

One of Morneau's favorite items included in the display is a song he wrote for the class of '85 titled “Go in Peace” that each student received a cassette of. A plaque of the song with the lyrics engraved stands enclosed inside the capsule. 

Morneau retired form DHS in 2005, but noted students kept the capsule alive after his departure, as several items had been added which he did not recognize.

Upon his revisit to the capsule, he continually expressed his shock over the preserved state of the display. “I would have thought the school was going to destroy it after my leave,” he exclaimed. Clearly, the school made the correct choice to keep the capsule, and it continues to remain in that room today, standing as a testament to DHS' past.