Experts pull money, documents, from statue time capsule

RICHMOND, Va. — Conservation experts in Virginia’s capital pulled books, money, ammunition, documents and other artifacts Tuesday from a long-soughtafter time capsule found in the remnants of a pedestal that once held a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Over the course of about two hours, the team sliced open the 36-pound copper box and meticulously pried apart and documented the damp contents. The box had been tucked in a foundation cornerstone of the massive — and now mostly deconstructed — Richmond monument since 1887.

The time capsule had drawn substantial interest, both because it proved to be elusive during an earlier search and because historical records had led to some speculation it might contain a rare photo of President Abraham Lincoln after his death. Ultimately, such a photo was not found.

The conservation team was able to identify many of the items immediately as they were pulled from the box, though some materials were warped from water damage and required further study. Experts were on hand to triage the artifacts.

“They were more waterlogged than we had hoped but not as bad as it could have been,” said Kate Ridgway, the lead conservator for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

The time capsule had been found a day earlier — buried and sitting in water — by workers wrapping up the removal of the Lee statue pedestal.

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