BOSTON -- There are an estimated 20,000 time capsules buried in the United States, but 90 percent of them are lost.

NewsCenter 5's Pam Cross reported that a construction worker doing demolition at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts discovered a letter written eight decades ago.

"It wasn't accidental that this letter got in the wall. Thomas planned it quite carefully," said Maureen Melton, of the MFA.

It's an echo from the past -- a letter carefully typed while a wing of the Museum of Fine Arts was under construction in 1926.

"It's a hot July day, so he's carefully typing on his typewriter. It's the hottest day of the year when he's writing it," Melton said.

The letter was tucked on a ledge between two walls, which is where construction worker Rick Brendemuehl comes in.

"So we were ripping out the brick and block. That was in there," he said. "It was just sticking out. Half the envelope was sticking out, and it said, 'Open with care.' I was hoping it was money."

Instead, there was a description of the times. Laborers made 74 cents an hour for a 44-hour work week.

"Once you adjust for inflation, that's equivalent to about $9 an hour," Melton said.

Melton has spent weeks learning about Thomas Crowley. He was a Dorchester resident who enlisted in World War I and then came home to work construction. He rejoined the service for World War II. He retired as a full Naval commander.

"For us it was Tomas reaching out to the future from behind that wall and my job, mine as a historian, is to reach back and pull him into the present," Melton said.

He's inspiring today's construction crew.

"We'll bury something in here somewhere," Brendemuehl said.