Thornwell Jacobs | |
|---|---|
 Jacobs sealing the last object holder to go into the Crypt of Civilization | |
| Born | 15 February 1877 |
| Died | 4 August 1956 (aged 79) |
| Occupation(s) | Presbyterian minister, author, educator, business executive |
| Known for | educator, "time capsule" |
| Parent(s) | William Plumer Jacobs Mary Jane (Dillard) |
Thornwell Jacobs (February 15, 1877 – August 4, 1956) was a professor, historian, author, fundraiser, university founder, and Presbyterian minister. He earned degrees from Presbyterian College in South Carolina and the Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey. He wrote The Law of White Circle, a novel about mulattos (people of mixed white and black ancestry) set during the Atlanta race massacre of 1906.
Jacobs reestablished Oglethorpe University, becoming its president and developing intense educational programs. His motivation for this was that his grandfather attended the original college and told him of educated people that had graduated from it to become productive citizens in society. Unfortunately, it had been forced to cease functioning because of the American Civil War.
He conceived the Crypt of Civilization time capsule idea for a historic time collection of 1930s cultural objects sealed in a specially designed place on campus for people of the 82nd century to find to see how the people on Earth lived in the 20th century.