Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Blue Cross Blue Shiled discovers forgotten time capsules in move - 7/11/2023By JENNIFER LEONARD | jleonard@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press
PUBLISHED: July 11, 2023 at 8:52 p.m. | UPDATED: July 12, 2023 at 1:11 p.m.
Just a month before their contents would have been lost forever, Blue Cross
and Blue Shield of Minnesota employees stumbled upon a bit of history: two
forgotten time capsules hidden in the company’s Eagan headquarters.
The discovery began as facility managers were going through archives at the
442,000-square-foot building. They spotted something curious.
“We discovered architectural drawings — blueprints,” said Mira LaNasa,
public relations specialist at the health insurer. “They are huge booklets that
take up an entire picnic table with detailed drawings of where everything is.”
By chance, a manager spotted an unusual marking on one of the thousands
of pages. “It indicated time capsules located at the front of the building,”
LaNasa said.
BUSINESS
SUBSCRIBER ONLY
Blue Cross employees stumble
upon long-forgotten time
capsules hidden in Eagan
Blue Cross Blue Shield discovers forgotten time capsules in move https://www.twincities.com/2023/07/11/forgotten-bcbs-time-capsul...
1 of 8 7/13/2023, 11:08 AM
No one currently at the company remembered hearing about time capsules.
After 50 years at the Eagan location, the company was preparing to move out
of the building, forever.
A manager snapped a photo of the marking and put the architectural
drawings away. Due to the volume of materials at the site, BCBS staff have
never been able to relocate that particular page of the architectural drawings.
But the snapshot was enough.
Treasure hunt
The drawings indicated that the time capsules were buried in the
cornerstones of the building, which were labeled “1950” and “1970.”
Monica Engel, senior vice president of government markets for Blue Cross,
said she always assumed the years were carved there to commemorate the
company’s previous moves: one in St. Paul around 1950 and then to the
Eagan location in 1970, around the time that Minnesota Blue Cross merged
with Blue Shield of Minnesota.
“Having walked by these cornerstones in our main building for days on end in
all of the years I’ve been here, I had no idea there was something so cool
buried beneath these cornerstones,” said Engel, who has worked for the
organization for 33 years.
When American Masonry extracted two time capsules from the cornerstones,
it was clear they had not only been buried, but sealed in metal. It took
screwdrivers and a saw to open the capsules.
The older capsule contained materials as early as the 1930s and was evidently
sealed in 1950. The second capsule appeared to have been sealed in 1970.
Both capsules were found behind the “1970” cornerstone, which LaNasa
believes is because the 1950 capsule was originally created while Blue Cross
was still in St. Paul and was then brought to the Eagan building and reburied
with a second capsule in 1970.
Back to the future
Blue Cross Blue Shield discovers forgotten time capsules in move https://www.twincities.com/2023/07/11/forgotten-bcbs-time-capsul...
2 of 8 7/13/2023, 11:08 AM
Photos, letters and brochures were among the items found in two time capsules
discovered in a cornerstone of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
headquarters in Eagan. On July 11, 2023, the time capsule contents were formally
handed to the Minnesota Historical Society at the History Center in St. Paul. The
contents will be preserved in the History Center’s climate-controlled archival
facilities, and they will be accessible to the public. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
The contents of the time capsules told two stories: one is a trip back in time to
1950s and 70s Minnesota, and the other, a message for the future.
The paper contents were very well preserved. “I was surprised at what good
shape the materials were in,” said Kathryn Hujda, manuscripts curator at the
Minnesota Historical Society. Because the documents were sealed in metal
and kept away from water, everything was legible and intact.
Documents included photos, annual reports, marketing materials and
newspaper clippings. In the 1970 capsule, there was a full copy of the Pioneer
Press dated Feb. 13, 1970, sold for 10 cents.
Many of the documents in the 1950s capsule focus on executive actions in the
upper ranks of the company’s operation. Multiple glossy black and white
photographs show organization presidents posing together, executives
alongside the Minnesota governor, and even a set of handwritten ballots
from a board meeting.
In contrast, the 1970 capsule focuses on more day-to-day items like contracts,
pamphlets and the largest item, the Pioneer Press newspaper.
Blue Cross Blue Shield discovers forgotten time capsules in move https://www.twincities.com/2023/07/11/forgotten-bcbs-time-capsul...
3 of 8 7/13/2023, 11:08 AM
One document appears to solicit recruits for the new BCBS office in Eagan by
advertising the construction of Interstate 35E. Though the interstate was not
completed through Eagan until the mid-1980s, it appears as though
expectations were high when the 1970 time capsule was sealed.
But both capsules contain items that feature the roots of Blue Cross Blue
Shield: the members.
The 1950 capsule contains a letter from one thankful member. “Dear Mr.
Calvin,” the letter reads, “You may be sure that I thank my lucky stars for
every minute that I’ve been in the Blue Cross organization. The financial
protection most certainly does contribute to my peace of mind.”
The headline of a Pioneer Press clipping dated July 14, 1939, reads “Hospital
Service Honors 50,000th Patient.” The article tells the story of Miss Floyd Haas
and Mrs. Cecil Eggleston, who visited the hospital for a tonsillectomy and to
deliver a baby, respectively. Their two visits marked the Blue Cross
organization’s “1,500,000th dollar” in assisted hospital bills. To celebrate the
milestone, the organization visited the women in the hospital to gift them
each a new purse.
Tales to tell
On Tuesday, BCBS formally handed the time capsule contents to the
Minnesota Historical Society at the History Center in St. Paul. The contents
will be preserved in the History Center’s climate-controlled archival facilities,
and they will be accessible to the public in the Gale Family Library. The
contents will be added to an already-established collection of BCBS records.
The Historical Society is excited to house the records. Anyone can understand
why preserving a diary or personal record might have historical significance,
but Hujda says organizational records can tell tales of their own.
For example, one chart in the BCBS time capsule is labeled “Trend of
Maternity Care (1941-1950).” As Hujda pointed out, there was a steep decline
from 1943 to 1944 and then, starting around 1944 to 1946, there’s a sharp
increase.
For the people who created the time capsule, “it seemed just a reporting of
the facts,” Hujda said. “But our modern sensibility can look back and make
the connections; that’s the baby boom.”
Minnesota leads the nation
Blue Cross Blue Shield discovers forgotten time capsules in move https://www.twincities.com/2023/07/11/forgotten-bcbs-time-capsul...
4 of 8 7/13/2023, 11:08 AM
Another thing the time capsules reveal is Minnesota’s leadership on the
national health care scene.
In 1933, seven St. Paul hospitals, noticing how many hospital beds were going
empty because of the Great Depression, created the nation’s first prepaid
health care network.
Members of the “Minnesota Hospital Services Association” could receive up to
21 days of care in one of seven hospitals: Bethesda, Midway, Charles T. Miller,
Mounds Park, St. John’s, St. Luke’s, and West Side General. By 1935, the
association had expanded to 16 member hospitals in St. Paul and
Minneapolis.
The monthly membership fee? 75 cents.
In 1934, the Minnesota Hospital Services Association enlisted the help of
artist Joseph Binder to create an advertisement. Binder, a world-renowned
art-deco artist who had designed posters for the World’s Fair, was a visiting
professor at the University of Minnesota. The poster he designed for the
Association featured a nurse wearing a blue cross armband.
A brochure from the 1950s explaining the
concept of group health insurance to
customers was among the items found in
two time capsules discovered in a
cornerstone of the Blue Cross and Blue
Shield of Minnesota headquarters in
Eagan. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
Individuals seeking insurance
began asking for “blue cross
insurance.” The name stuck.
In 1939, Blue Cross expanded its
hospital coverage outside the Twin
Cities, and in 1950 they merged
with Minnesota Indemnity
Incorporation, which specialized in
clinic insurance, offering coverage
to individuals as well as employers.
Business and politics
What was it that allowed Minnesota to lead the nation in the development of
modern health insurance?
“Minnesota has a history in health care and health technology that makes it a
particularly good place for an organization like Blue Cross and Blue Shield to
be founded,” Hujda said.
Blue Cross Blue Shield discovers forgotten time capsules in move https://www.twincities.com/2023/07/11/forgotten-bcbs-time-capsul...
5 of 8 7/13/2023, 11:08 AM
The 1970 capsule included a 1966 photo documenting a partnership between
Blue Cross and then-Minneapolis-based Honeywell to introduce a
computerized data sharing service for Twin Cities area hospitals. According to
the photo’s caption, such technology was “the first of its kind to go into
operation in the hospital field.”
“These industries have provided scaffolding and support for each other,”
Hujda said.
Another major boon for the budding health insurance industry in Minnesota
was state politics. The 1950 time capsule included a photo of Gov. Harold
Stassen signing legislation in 1941 which allowed Blue Cross to operate as a
nonprofit. Throughout the 20th century, Minnesota legislation supported
health insurers and the rise of HMOs after The Health Maintenance Act of
1973.
Though there has been much development in Minnesota health care, the
capsule showed BCBS employees of today that some things have remained
the same.
“Back then, they were seeking to provide quality care at an affordable price.
We very much are living that legacy. That is the work that is in front of us
today. Our company values and mission have remained the same,” Engel
says.
Today, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has more members,
products, and services than any other nonprofit health plan in the state. This
year marks its 90th anniversary.
Author Jennifer Leonard
Jennifer Leonard is an intern reporter for the Pioneer Press. Originally from
Maple Grove, she is a rising senior at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, MI where
she studies history and serves as editor-in-chief for The Hillsdale Forum.
jleonard@pioneerpress.com
Minnesota: Your Garage Will Never Look The Same Thanks To
Tags: Dakota County,Eagan,Minnesota,Museums
Blue Cross Blue Shield discovers forgotten time capsules in move https://www.twincities.com/2023/07/11/forgotten-bcbs-time-capsul...
6 of 8 7/13/2023, 11:08 AM