Robert E. Lee Time Capsule With Confederacy Relics Opened In Richmond

RICHMOND, VA — A historic preservation team on Tuesday opened what they believe is the official time capsule that was placed inside a pedestal in 1887 where the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee stood for more than 130 years.

Working at the Department of Historic Resources lab in Richmond, the team pulled items that were placed into the copper box, which is much larger than a lead box that was opened last Wednesday.

“It does appear that this is the box we expected,” Kate Ridgway, lead conservator for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, told reporters Tuesday.

Ridgway said the box, which weighed 36 pounds, was found in water in an alcove of the pedestal. The contents of the box were damp, but not terribly damaged. “I think it’s in better shape than we expected,” she said.

The first box opened last week, with Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on hand, was a shoebox-size container also found in the base of the statue. It was clearly not the time capsule mentioned in a 1887 newspaper piece. Among its water-damaged contents were three books, an envelope and a coin.

Northam did not attend the opening of the second box on Tuesday.

Inside the copper box, conservators found a printed image from an 1865 issue of Harper’s Weekly that Ridgway said seemed to show a figure grieving over Lincoln's grave. They also found an envelope with what appeared to be Confederate money. Also found were several coins and a button with the Virginia seal.

On Monday, workers dismantling the pedestal of the statue of the Confederate general discovered the copper box, believed to have been buried 130 years ago.

Records from the Library of Virginia suggested the copper time capsule was placed in the cornerstone of the pedestal on Oct. 27, 1887. It is believed that 37 Richmond residents, organizations and business contributed about 60 objects to the capsule, many of which are believed to be related to the Confederacy.

After the copper box was pulled from the pedestal on Monday, a bomb squad was called to examine the contents of the box by X-ray. Newspaper articles said there might be ordnance inside the box. The bomb squad did not find any unexploded ordnance.

The conservators also found letters and Minie balls, a form of ammunition in the Civil War. Masonic items also were pulled from the box, Ridgway said.

In September, the 12-ton statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee was hoisted off the pedestal in a traffic circle on Monument Avenue. The statue had been placed on the pedestal in 1890 to honor Lee and the Confederacy.

A crowd erupted in cheers as work crews lifted the statue off the giant pedestal. After the crane lowered the 12-ton statue of Lee and his horse, Traveler, to the ground, workers cut it into separate pieces for transport to a storage facility.

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