Crews have stopped searching for the day for an 1887 time capsule believed to be buried on the pedestal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E.
RICHMOND, Virginia, United States – Virginia teams ended a search on Thursday a day after they were unable to locate a 134-year-old time capsule that state officials believe is buried on the pedestal of a statue of the general Confederate Robert E. Lee who rose above Richmond for over a century.
State officials had planned to remove the 1887 time capsule from the pedestal a day after the massive statue was demolished. But after removing more than half a dozen large, heavy stones, the crew could not find her.
Workers used ground penetration radar devices, a metal detector, and other construction equipment to try to locate the copper-time capsule they believed was embedded in or under a cornerstone of a 40-foot granite pedestal ( 12 meters) high than the bronze equestrian statue of Lee had been placed there since 1890.
The statue rose from its pedestal on Wednesday, more than a year after Gov. Ralph Northam ordered its withdrawal in June 2020 after protests erupted over racism and police brutality across the country after the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Although the removal of the statue was quick and fluid, the search for the time capsule was marked by difficulties and frustrations. The crews had to remove three separate pieces of the cornerstone that weighed between 225 and 3,620 kilograms each. They also removed half a dozen large stones around the perimeter of the pedestal so they could search under the cornerstone and the area around it.
After about 12 hours of work, the crews finished the day’s search, said Clark Mercer, Northam’s chief of staff. Mercer said workers planned to return on Friday to reposition the stones they removed and insert a new time capsule into the cornerstone. He said it was doubtful that workers would look for the 1887 time capsule again, but he left a small possibility open.
“It’s disappointing not to find the time capsule,” he said.
“We looked at where we thought he was. It doesn’t stop us (in the future) from finding it, but for now the mystery will continue. “
Dale Brumfield, a local historian and author who has conducted extensive research on the time capsule, said he is sure the capsule is somewhere on the pedestal, citing an account in the diary of an 1887 dedication ceremony. which attracted thousands of people.
“I’m sure there’s some capsule somewhere,” he said. “We just can’t find where.”
An 1887 newspaper article suggests that the copper-time capsule contains mostly souvenirs, including a U.S. silver dollar and a collection of Confederate buttons. But one line of this article has aroused the interest of historians. Among the artifacts is an “image of Lincoln lying in the coffin.”
It’s unclear what type of photography this is, but the article says it was donated by “Miss Pattie Leake,” who was a director of a prominent local family.
Harold Holzer, a Lincoln historian and scholar, told The Associated Press earlier this year that he believes it is highly doubtful that the image is a real photograph of Lincoln in his coffin because the only known photo of Lincoln at death was taken by photographer Jeremiah Gurney at City Hall. in New York on April 24, 1865.
Holzer said it is more likely to be a popular lithographic engraving of Lincoln’s Currier & Ives that was in New York State or a sketch made by someone who could have witnessed Lincoln’s body. during a two-week tour where the president’s body was taken before his burial. in Springfield, Illinois.
The new weather capsule to be placed on Friday contains items that reflect current events, including an expired bottle of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, a Black Lives Matter sticker, and a photograph of a black dancer with her fist raised close. of Lee’s statue last summer. protests in Richmond.
Lee’s statue was one of five huge Confederate tributes along Richmond’s Monument Avenue and the only one that belonged to the state. The city’s four owned statues were removed last summer, but the removal of Lee’s statue was blocked by two lawsuits until a Virginia Supreme Court ruling last week paved the way for it to be withdrawn Wednesday.
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An earlier version of this report incorrectly said that the pedestal was made of concrete instead of granite.