1887 time capsule discovered in Robert E. Lee statue to be opened

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1887 time capsule discovered in Robert E. Lee statue to be opened

Historic preservation experts in Richmond, Virginia, on Wednesday plan to open the 1887 time capsule that was found in the pedestal that once held a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, Gov. Ralph Northam announced.

Workers found the time capsule on December 17 while dismantling the 40-foot pedestal on Monument Avenue in Richmond, according to a news release from Northam's office.

The 12-ton statue of Lee on his horse, which was removed in September, became a focal point for racial justice protests in Richmond -- the former capital of the Confederacy.

The time capsule was found in the tower of the pedestal about 20 feet above ground level.

Officials had thought it was encased in the base of the pedestal, and in September crews used cranes and other heavy equipment to move 21 granite blocks, including some that weighed up to 8,000 pounds.

Workers also dug a large 5-foot-deep hole near the cornerstone of the pedestal in hopes of finding the time capsule.

Historians believe the time capsule was placed on October 27, 1887, and included about 60 items that were donated by 37 Richmond residents, many of which were related to the Confederacy, according to the governor's office.

The state plans to store the pedestal until officials decide what to do with the partial monument.

© Steve Helber/AP
Workers guide a stone containing a time capsule that was placed in 1887.

ricko

Sure would be a great experience to be there when it is opened... I hope they post some good pictures of the items found within. Cheers, RickO

charlesf20

What did they due with the statue?

MsMorrisine

@charlesf20 said:
What did they due with the statue?

Ohhhhhh
I don’t know

But

I wouldn’t go there on here

MsMorrisine

Saw a news video just before this

Some people doing conservation stuck a fiber optic in a corner

All the said was see some paper, see some textile, see moisture

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A state conservator in Virginia began the delicate task Wednesday of trying to open a 134-year-old time capsule that had sat beneath a towering a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond.

Chelsea Blake, a conservator with Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources, pressed a vibrating tool with a hard metal tip against the rectangular capsule about the size of a large shoe box, covered in various tones of brown and green.

Opening the capsule has so far proven to be a challenging — and time consuming — task. As of early Wednesday afternoon, Blake was still sitting at a table with her gloved hands working various tools along the capsule’s edges.

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Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam attended the opening of capsule by historians. Historians used tools to painstakingly open the corroded box. After hours of working to unseal the box, the team -- clad in blue latex gloves -- pulled the first artifact: a medium-sized maroon book.

"It's very wet," Kate Ridgeway said, a conservator with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources said as she peered into the rusted time capsule.

"We are trying to preserve what we can of this book," Ridgeway said, after conservators took a thin maroon book from the more than hundred year old container.

Other artifacts were slowly pulled from the corroded box, another book and what one historian said looked like the coin.

Conservators pulled a few items from the box: what appears to be a coin, at least three books of varying size and color, what appeared to be an envelope and papers, some of which were difficult to identify given their condition.

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Teams quickly worked to "stabilize" the artifacts, Ridgeway told reporters in the room, so that they could be worked on. As for how long it takes to stabilize them, historians said it depends on how wet the items are.
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As the capsule was opened, the state was making plans to create a new time capsule to reflect present-day Virginia.
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The state has selected 39 individuals to add artifacts to the 2021 time capsule, which are expected to include nods to the 2020 racial justice protests, as well as items, including face masks and vaccination cards, related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

MsMorrisine

Excitement raised but must be tempered by wait that will come from stabilization.

ricko

One 'silver' coin... quickly put in something to stop further tarnish. More details later. Also, there is supposed to be another time capsule box they have not located. Cheers, RickO