The wallet—and its contents—was discovered during the renovation of an old school building in League City, Texas.
Video by Clear Creek Independent School District
The renovation of a former school in Texas has revealed what school district officials are calling a “memorial stuck in time.”
Clear Creek Independent School District is now searching for Beverly Williams — or members of her family — after a 1950s handbag was found in the floorboards of what is now the League City Community Center.
Armando Rodriguez, who school district officials say made the discovery, called the wallet “the only thing worth saving” amid the mess in the floorboards.
“I didn’t really want to go through it because it looked old and I didn’t want it to fall apart,” said Rodriguez, a remodeling contractor. “I wanted to turn it in and let someone else handle it.”
Inside the purse were items that had remained untouched since 1959, including photos of Beverly’s family and friends, as well as a photo of Beverly herself when she was 9 months old in 1946, according to Richard Lewis, vice president of the League Historical Society. City.
The purse also contained journal entries in which Williams wrote about her personal life, Lewis said.
Officials know some details about her from the items in her purse. She was the youngest of four sisters and her father’s name was Frank Williams, but school district officials couldn’t find her in their old yearbooks.
“How can a gap in the floorboards be wide enough for a whole purse to fall down there and be completely lost and never found?” Lewis said in a school district video.
Beverly Williams is believed to be 76 years old. Clear Creek Independent School District asked anyone who may know her or her family members to contact them at 281-284-0000.
“I would like to have memories of my parents when they were at school, so I had to hand them in right away. They have to find these people,” Rodriguez said.
League City is about 25 miles southeast of Houston.