Second 1887 time capsule found under Gen. Robert E. Lee statue is REAL

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Historical conservation experts in Virginia‘s capital have opened a time capsule found in the remnants of a pedestal that once held a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, finding books, coins, ammunition, documents and dozens of other artifacts.

The box opened on Tuesday appears to be the true 1887 time capsule filled with Confederate trinkets, after another container discovered earlier was revealed as a stunt apparently left by the monument’s builders.

However, the real time capsule did not contain the rare photo of President Abraham Lincoln in an open casket as historians had hoped, instead bearing an illustration of the assassinated president’s gravesite. 

Records maintained by the Library of Virginia suggest that dozens of Richmond residents, organizations and businesses contributed about 60 objects to the capsule, including Confederate memorabilia. 

The lead conservator for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Kate Ridgway, said that the measurements and material of the copper box match historical accounts. 

As the contents inside were unpacked, they appeared to match the description of the 1887 time capsule they had been looking for.

‘It does appear that this is the box we expected,’ Ridgway told reporters.

The box was discovered and carefully extracted from the monument site a day earlier, marking the end of a long search for the elusive capsule. 

Ridgway said the box, which weighed 36 pounds, was found in water in a little alcove of the pedestal. The contents were damp, but ‘it’s not soup,’ Ridgway said.

‘I think it’s in better shape than we expected,’ she said.

Historical records had led to some speculation that the capsule might contain a rare and historically significant photo of deceased President Abraham Lincoln. 

One line from a newspaper article also listed among the contents ‘picture of Lincoln lying in his coffin.’

Instead, on Tuesday conservators found a printed image from an April 25, 1865 issue of Harper’s Weekly in the time capsule that Ridgway said seemed to show a figure grieving over Lincoln’s grave – which did not appear to be the much-anticipated photo.

Harold Holzer, a historian and Lincoln scholar, had previously told The Associated Press he believed it highly unlikely that the time capsule contained an actual photograph of Lincoln in his coffin because the only known photo of Lincoln in death was taken by photographer Jeremiah Gurney in City Hall in New York on April 24, 1865.

The contents of the tightly packed box had expanded from the damp and stuck together, making unpacking difficult, so conservators decided to relieve pressure by cutting down one side.

‘Not ideal but it’s the way it is,’ Ridgway said.

Northam ordered the enormous equestrian statue of Lee removed in 2020, amid the global protest movement sparked by the police killing of George Floyd. 

Litigation pushed back his plans, and the statue was not removed until September, after a court cleared the way.

Contemporaneous news accounts from the late 1800s detailed the placement of the time capsule in the foundation of the pedestal, and imaging tests conducted earlier this year appeared to confirm its existence. 

But a lengthy search during the September statue removal came up empty.

Earlier this month, Northam ordered the pedestal removed as well, and crews working on the project again started to search for the artifact. 

Two weeks ago, crews dismantling the pedestal found a time capsule embedded in a granite block that some initially thought might have been the one placed in 1887. 

But after state conservators spent hours last week gingerly prying the box open, they didn´t find the expected trove of objects related to the Confederacy. 

Instead, conservators pulled out a few waterlogged books, a silver coin and an envelope with some papers.

The prevailing theory last week was that the lead box was left by a person – or persons – who oversaw the monument´s construction as a private ‘vanity project’.

The search for the true 1887 time capsule resumed Monday.

Devon Henry, the contractor whose company was overseeing the removal, said the second box was found inside a granite enclosure basically at ground level, surrounded by fill and other construction material. 

Workers pulled off the top of the granite enclosure to find the box, which appeared to be made of copper, sitting in water, Henry said.

The box was then covered in bubble wrap and transported by vehicle from the site for further study, he said.

The Lee statue was one of five enormous Confederate tributes along Monument Avenue, and the only one that belonged to the state. 

The four city-owned statues were taken down in 2020, but the Lee statue´s removal was blocked by two lawsuits until a ruling from the Supreme Court of Virginia in September cleared the way for it to be dismantled.

Crews searched for the time capsule then, digging and removing some massive stones, but were unable to locate it.

Henry said it was found Monday in the northeast corner of the pedestal, about 4 feet below the area initially searched.

Northam’s administration initially planned to leave the pedestal in place but announced in early December that contractors would remove the behemoth, now covered in graffiti, and transfer the grassy traffic circle it inhabited to the city of Richmond. 

The administration has said it will be stored until ‘next steps’ have been determined.

Finalizing the removal work at the site will likely take another week, Henry said.

Once the site is clear, a new capsule will be buried there with a selection of items commemorating life in 2021.

The new capsule contains 39 items that were proposed by residents of the city and selected by a group that included the state’s First Lady Pamela Northam. 

Items include a photograph of a black ballerina dancing in front of the vandalized statue and a copy of the National Geographic ‘2020 in Pictures’ issue with a photograph of the Lee monument on the cover.

It also will contain a ‘Kente cloth worn by the Commissioners of the Congressionally chartered 400 Years of African-American History Commission’. 

Other 2021 artifacts in the capsule will include an expired COVID-vaccine, photos from Stop Asian Hate protests, BLM stickers and a ‘Virginia is for Lovers’ Pride badge.