Expert opens General Lee’s 1887 time capsule

(Richmond) A curator employed by the state of Virginia undertook the delicate operation on Wednesday of opening the time capsule embedded for 134 years in the pedestal on which stood a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, in Richmond.

A conservation specialist at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Chelsea Blake painstakingly attempts to open the rectangular capsule the size of a large shoebox and varying in color between shades of brown and green.

So far, opening the capsule has been complex and rather long. On Wednesday, Chelsea Blake was still seated in front of the object, wearing gloves, using various tools on the edges of the capsule to reveal its contents.

The lead box has been heavily corroded making things a lot more complicated than expected, when it was originally believed to be made of copper.

To add to the chore, the box was partly covered with mortar, which must be scraped off while preserving the container as best as possible. As much as its contents, the capsule itself is considered an artefact.

This time capsule has stood for over 130 years beneath the imposing statue of the general and his mount, erected in 1890. Seen as a symbol of racial injustice in the former capital of the Confederacy, the statue was removed in September.

Then, when the pedestal was removed last Friday, workers found the time capsule that was embedded in a 1,500-pound block of granite.

According to a newspaper article in 1887, the capsule contains memories of the Civil War and possibly a photograph of Abraham Lincoln in his coffin. Historians, however, doubt that this is a genuine original photo.

According to documents kept by the Library of Virginia, 37 citizens, organizations and businesses of Richmond had contributed to the sixty objects contained in the capsule.