(Photo credit: Sarah Rankin/Associated Press)
Conservators opened a time capsule yesterday, one day after it was discovered at the site of a pedestal that supported a now-removed monument of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia. It was opened at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, where its lead conservator, Kate Ridgeway, confirmed that it was the capsule they expected to find, and that the contents were “in better shape than [they] expected,” despite being damp.
The time capsule, a 36-pound copper box, contained roughly 60 artifacts from Richmond residents. Among the items was a picture from an 1865 edition of Harper’s Weekly of someone “grieving” over President Abraham Lincoln’s grave, but not of the President himself, despite prior speculation. Other items included waterlogged books, Confederate money, ammunition, and two carved items from what officials believe came from a tree that grew over General Stonewall Jackson’s grave.
Officials discovered this time capsule after searching for it since September, but unexpectedly found a different one earlier this month.