Thomas Kimmwood Peters - Association With Oglethorpe University

Association With Oglethorpe University

Thornwell Jacobs, originator of the Crypt of Civilization (the world's first modern time capsule located at Oglethorpe University), hired Peters to serve as the project archivist and general manager of development and construction.

One of the reasons Peters was hired was for his unique skills in photography. He used his knowledge to preserve on microfilm and film footage items to be entered in the Crypt for a 6,000-year storage. Peters recorded on film such historical figures as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. He also included President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Benito Mussolini.

Peters and his staff of student assistants worked on the Crypt project from 1937 until 1940 when it was sealed permanently. They put on cellulose acetate microfilm many historical events of the 19th and 20th centuries. The microfilm reels were placed into airtight receptacles for preservation. The staff and Peters initiated backup methods in case the acetate didn't survive. One method Peters developed was duplicate "metal film." It was as thin as paper.

Peters also worked on developing Oglethorpe University's historical photographic collections. Peters was also director of the China Air Force School at Oglethorpe University, 1945-46. He was also professor of audio-visual education at the university.

According to Oglethorpe University Peters had been the only newsreel photographer to film the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the associated fire. He was also the first to film the construction of the Panama Canal.