Annie Deihm and the Century Safe: Part 2
A woman with an audacious idea and the will to see it through
| Part 2 of 5 | Start from the Beginning| ← Previous Chapter | Next Chapter →|
Release Date: February 17, 2026
A grave duty upon every patriotic man and woman
On April 7, 1866, nearly a year after Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox, Annie Deihm’s life was forever changed when her eight-year-old daughter, Ida May, passed away. The little girl was buried next to her father at Charles Evans Cemetery in Reading, Pennsylvania. Two devastating losses in two years.
The next month, Annie shuttered her uniform manufacturing business, and six months later, she and six-year-old Clara moved to New York City. By early 1868, Annie was working as a journalist, relying on the skills she’d learned dealing with local newspapers – and naysayers – during her time as a military contractor.
About that same time, an Indiana professor named John Campbell presented an idea to Morton McMichael, the mayor of Philadelphia. America’s Centennial was just a few years away, Campbell noted, and the nation should celebrate with a world’s fair, an international exhibition, a showcase of American ingenuity and creativity and superiority.
And they should hold it in Philadelphia.
It only made sense.
Philadelphia had hosted the Continental Congress during which both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution had been debated and eventually accepted. And in 1864, at the height of the Civil War, the city had hosted The Great Sanitary Fair, a wildly successful fundraiser for the Sanitary Commission. They knew how to pull off what would surely be a popular event.
On March 3, 1871, the U.S. Centennial Commission was created, and the date for the Centennial International Exhibition – officially named the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufacturers, and Products of the Soil and Mine – was set: May 10 to November 10, 1876.
Please hit the ❤️ button at the bottom of the page to help this story reach more readers. And if you’re not already a subscriber, I’d love to have you join me. Thanks!
As the Centennial Commission was overseeing the construction of buildings, vetting vendors and exhibitioners and preparing for an influx of visitors from across America and around the world, Annie Deihm was busy, as well.
Whether she’d made connections through her journalism or simply through the force of her personality, by the end of 1875, Annie had convinced politicians, philanthropists and patriots to get behind yet another audacious idea.
And like her work with the Sanitation Commission, this one was also economic opportunity heavily cloaked in patriotism.
In early 1876, press releases started appearing in newspapers from Pennsylvania to New York:
“We understand that Mrs. Charles F. Deihm, whom many of our readers will recollect, as she formerly resided in this city, is about to establish in New York City, a new Magazine to be called The United States Centennial Welcome, to be printed in red, white and blue…” 1
By March, Annie had expanded her vision to include an autograph album that would be exhibited at the Centennial Exposition and locked in Government archives to be opened in 1976
And people, important and influential people, were getting on board.
“The Autographs of the Great American People,” is the title in big letters of gold on two great Russia leather-covered books in which Mrs. Charles F. Deihm of Washington Heights, is collecting the signatures of patriotic office holders and others.
“She had visited the Custom House, the Sub-Treasury, the Post Office and other Federal offices in New York City, within the last four days asking to have names written in the books. The signatures cost the signers from one to five dollars. Below each name is a blank line, where the descendant of the signer above, as Mrs. Deihm explains, can write his or her name a hundred years hence.” 2
The albums, according to sources, had been donated by Charles C. Knox, Comptroller of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, and Henry H. Van Dyck, newspaper publisher, financier and former Assistant U.S. Treasurer under President Grant.
And that patriotic ink? It was held in a silver inkstand given to Annie by James Gopsill, the former mayor of Jersey City and publisher of popular city directories, and flowed through two gold pens, also donated by the former mayor.
As further social proof of the project’s importance, newspapers reported that the first five signatures in the autograph books were President Ulysses S. Grant, and four members of his Cabinet, Secretary of State Hamilton Fish, Secretary of War William W. Belknap, Secretary of Navy George M. Robeson and U. S. Attorney General Edwards Pierrepont.
“The Centennial imposes a grave duty upon every patriotic man and woman of the land. It is for them to take the lead and give tone to the teachings of the Republic to its own people and to the world, and make it certain to elevate and advance us in all that can prove self-government and public virtue illustrious.” 3
What wasn’t reported, however, were meetings Annie held with Peter Cooper, one of New York’s most famous industrialists, inventors, politician and philanthropist, seeking his support of her Centennial autograph project. The timeline around those meetings is unknown, but the result was the purchase of a 3,500-pound lead and glass safe that would become known as the “Centennial Safe.”
Soon after the Exhibition’s opening ceremonies, newspapers announced the new partnership between the patriotic lady publisher and the philanthropist-cum-presidential candidate:
“A Centennial Safe has been presented by Peter Cooper of New York, with the object of preserving memorial artifacts, and will be locked up on the 31st of December next, not to be opened before a century hence.” 4
And what a safe it was. Custom designed and manufactured by Marvin Safe Company of New York City – one of the exhibitors in the Centennial Exhibition’s Machinery Hall – the safe was 50 inches wide by 40 inches deep by 64 inches high and featured inner doors of plate glass secured with a key lock, and outer iron doors secured by a state-of-the-art combination lock.
On the exterior of those outer doors were painted colorful portraits of Presidents Lincoln and Grant, with an image of President Washington, the Union Flag and the pine-tree shilling adorning the ornate cornice.
The safe also included three suitable inscriptions.
On the door opening to the right were found the words: “It is the wish of Mrs. Deihm that this safe may remain closed until July 4, 1976, then to be opened by the Chief Magistrate of the United States,”
On the left door was inscribed: “In memory of those whose names appear upon the pages of the albums deposited within, who have rendered distinguished service to their country.”
And on the top of the safe was the inscription: “Dedicated to the People of the United States by C. F. Deihm, July 4, 1876.” 5
Annie quickly set up shop in Memorial Hall, where her exhibition space included not only the Centennial Safe and copies of her subscription-based publication, but also a table and chair where visitors could add their own signatures to the autograph books, one of which was free and the other – the larger one which included a line underneath which was to be filled by a descendant in 1976 – for the low price of just one dollar a line for up to five lines.
Given the massive size of the Centennial Safe, it likely came as no surprise that what started out as a simple project to collect autographs of famous and ordinary Americans and lock them away until America’s Bicentennial celebration in 1976, quickly grew to fit it’s new and much larger space and potential.
The two leather-bound books titled, The Autographs of the Great American People, were reportedly joined by no fewer than five other albums including:
one for autographs of foreign ministers and visitors
one for autographs and photos of the Exhibition’s leaders and organizers,
one for autographs of the governors of all 38 states (Colorado became a state in August 1876)
one for photographs and signatures of all the living presidents
and one for autographs of all the current judges of the Supreme Court and Cabinet members, as well as the President of the Senate or president pro tempore, and the Speaker of the House.
In addition to the new albums, the Centennial Safe would also be home to the silver inkstand and two gold pens which had been donated earlier by James Gopsill, although by June of 1876, the provenance of at least one of those gold pens curiously included that great American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 6
An estimated 10 million people attended the Centennial Exhibition – how many of those signed Annie’s autograph albums is unknown. But, however many it was, it was fewer than Annie had anticipated.
In early December she announced she’d be taking her Centennial preservation project on the road, criss-crossing the United States and gathering the autographs of “distinguished statesmen, jurists, legislators, orators, poets, scientists, clergy, historians and merchant” and everyday Americans from all walks of life.
And she’d also be starting a new publication, “Our Second Century“,” a weekly family newspaper filled with “patriotic reading material of the best character,” and available by subscription for just $2.50 a year. 7
Copyright 2026 Lori Olson White
| Part 2 of 5 | Start from the Beginning| ← Previous Chapter | Next Chapter →|
The Century Safe Method teaches you Annie Deihm’s pioneering approach, refined with 150 years of hindsight and adapted for family-scale projects today and into the future
This isn’t a vague “make a time capsule” guide. This is a complete methodology for creating a Century Safe that:
Actually gets opened (most time capsules don’t)
Engages future recipients (not just passive viewing)
Survives decades of moves, transitions, and forgotten promises
Creates traditions that continue for generations
Your bridge to 2076 is waiting.
In 2076, someone will open what you’re creating.
They’ll read your letters. See your photos. Discover the “Five Things” about you that no historical record captured. Read your Good Ancestor statement and understand what you wanted to be remembered for.
They’ll sign the signature page beneath your name, answering the questions you posed across fifty years. They’ll feel connected to someone they never met but who thought about them anyway.
And maybe - just maybe - they’ll decide to build a Century Safe for 2126, continuing the chain you started.
That’s legacy. That’s bridge building. And it’s possible.
Get your copy of The Century Safe Method today.
The Story Catalog is not an archive in the usual sense. What you’ll find here is a living catalog of Lost & Found Stories – deeply researched historical narratives told in parts, discovered through newspapers, letters, court records, logs, and the stubborn human habit of leaving traces behind.
Have you read the incredible true story of Aimee Henry and Mary Martha Parker? Call Me a Bastard is my longest serialized story to-date, and the one that started it all here on the Lost & Found Story Box. Check out the story from the beginning.
The Lost & Found Story Box is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
End Notes
1 “New Publications,” Tunkhannock Republican, Tunkhannoc, PA, February 9, 1876, P. 4.
2 “Autographs for 1976” A Woman Traveling with Two Ponderous Volumes for the Centennial,” New York Herald, New York, NY, March 12, 1876, P. 2.
3 “The Day and Its Duties,” Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, May 10, 1876, P. 1.
4 “At Lansdowne. Brighter Skies and Increased Attendance. The Commission Again in Session. Miscellaneous Note About the Exposition,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, May 20, 1876, P. 2.
5 “The Century Safe: Lies Neglected on Portico of National Capitol,” Kansas City Journal, January 5, 1901, P. 6.
6 “A Centennial safe.” Connecticut Western News, Salisbury, CT, June 9, 1876, P. 1.
7 “A Journalistic Change,” The Jersey Journal, Jersey City, NJ, April 27, 1885, P. 2.
I’m loving this series Lori. Annie was a very savvy women and I would say, not to be messed with.
What a fascinating story. Annie Deihm’s “Centennial Safe” really captures the spirit of 1876 —a mix of patriotism, promotion, and business opportunity. She clearly knew how to connect her project to big national names like Ulysses S. Grant and George Washington, while also building interest in her own publications. Wrapping a money-making idea in national pride was smart and she seems to have done it very well.
The image of that large, decorated safe, locked until 1976, is striking. It makes you think about how much of the Centennial was about honouring the past and how much was about leaving a mark for the future.
I’m looking forward to reading more.