After the largest confederate statue in the U.S. came down on September 8, 2021 in Richmond, two time capsules were discovered underneath the structure. Underneath the large statue of confederate General Robert E. Lee on a horse were two time capsules. The first box didn’t contain anything earth shattering, but a second larger time capsule was opened on December 28.
The Lee statue was dedicated in Richmond in 1887, 23 years after the end of the Civil War. Activists in Richmond protested in 2020 until local politicians bent to political inevitability. Confederate statues have been coming down across the U.S. But the Lee statue was the most prominent and the largest as well as being located in the former Capital of the confederacy.
The contents of the second time capsule were revealed to a room full of reporters by conservationists Kate Ridgeway and others at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources in Richmond.
Though many of the items could not immediately be identified, a photo of Abraham Lincoln from Harper’s Weekly in 1865 was part of what was discovered in the larger capsule. There was speculation that an original photo of Lincoln would be in the capsule. The box filled with water over time.
“They were more water-logged as we had hoped but not as bad as it could have been,” said a conservationist who spent two hours carefully opening the metal box that contained the historic items.
Sue Donovan, conservationist of University of Virginia told the reporters that the items, which included books and newspapers, had to be frozen and treated with special chemicals to dry the items. Conservationists were not completely certain what exactly they had because so many of the items were in envelopes and all items had to undergo a careful drying process before being fully revealed.
In August 2017, a clash between white supremacists and counter protesters at the Lee Statue near the University of Virginia was the precursor to the death of Heather Hayer and two Virginia State Police Officers who died in an air mishap as they patrolled the gathering.
On November 24, a jury awarded $25 million to plaintiffs in a case where the organizers of the “Unite the Right” rally were sued for damages.
