Researchers open possible time capsule from 1887 found in Robert E Lee statue pedestal – video https://t.co/2TyZwAsMI5
— Guardian news (@guardiannews) December 28, 2021
Historians and officials from the city of Richmond, Virginia, decided not to delay for a long time with the opening of the second time capsule, which was found on Monday, December 27, at the base of the pedestal of the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Initially, they wanted to open it after the New Year holidays, but the analysis of the copper box showed that there could be water inside, and therefore it is necessary to extract artifacts from it as soon as possible.
In the presence of officials and journalists, historians opened the capsule. In a copper box weighing about 16 kilograms, they found many artifacts more than 130 years old: a button, a business card, handwritten letters, wet copies of the Harper’s Weekly political magazine for 1865, Confederate banknotes and a fragment of a shell left after the Battle of Fredericksburg.
Then, after sawing an additional section of the box, the experts found a Bible with a silver coin of 1883 attached to it, a guide to Richmond, a guide to Richmond from 1881, and also a Masonic symbol and flag carved from wood and wrapped in an envelope.
They also found an envelope with the inscription “Badges of the Army of Northern Virginia”, several bullets from the Civil War, a yellowed almanac from 1887, a book entitled “The Little Things of soldier’s Life” with a bookmark, a newspaper from January 2, 1883, and several rubber bands.
Historians have never found inside the rare photograph of Abraham Lincoln that they hoped to discover. Instead, the box contained a printed image from Harper’s Weekly magazine from the president’s funeral.
Despite the fact that part of the contents of the time capsule was wet, almost all the artifacts were well preserved, writes The Guardian.
Inside the second 1887 Virginia time capsule
Historians opened a 19th century time capsule that was discovered in the pedestal of the Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond, Virginia. https://abcn.ws/3mGTe3j
Published by ABC News Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Recall that scientists opened the first time capsule found under the statue of the general on December 23, but its contents did not correspond to the description in historical documents.
Ekaterina Gura