Brown Bag Lunch & Learn

January 14, 2015

Bring your lunch and join us for the free Brown Bag Lunch & Learn on Wednesday, January 14 at noon in the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center’s J. E. & L. E.  Mabee Foundation Temporary Exhibit Gallery.  


Special guest, Chad Williams, Director of the Oklahoma Historical Society Research Division will share about the Oklahoma City “Century Chest” and its fascinating contents now on exhibit at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City. 

On April 22, 1913, a "Century Chest" was buried in the basement of the First English Lutheran Church (now the First Lutheran Church of Oklahoma City) at 1300 North Robinson. The ceremony was witnessed by a capacity crowd including Governor Lee Cruce and other notable Oklahoma residents.


Through a century of dutiful vigilance the congregation of the First Lutheran Church has guarded the Century Chest in order that on April 22, 2013, the chest would be unearthed and life as it was a century earlier would be revealed.  The church has partnered with the Oklahoma Historical Society to ensure the treasures of 1913 are preserved and exhibited at the Oklahoma History Center.

Chad Williams has been instrumental in the development of the OHS online research catalog which includes a variety of digitized records.  


Williams began his OHS career in the newspaper department where he worked in all aspects of newspaper preservation and public service.  In 2001 he served as Manuscript Archivist before being promoted to deputy director and director.