Experts Open Time Capsule Found at Gen. Lee Statue Site

Experts Open Time Capsule Found at Gen. Lee Statue Site
Virginia state conservators work on a box believed to be a time capsule left in the pedestal at the former site of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va., on Dec. 28, 2021. Sarah Rankin/AP Photo
The Associated Press
Updated:

RICHMOND, Va.—Conservation experts in Virginia’s capital Tuesday pulled books, coins, ammunition, documents, and other artifacts from a time capsule found in the remnants of a pedestal that once held a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The lead conservator for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Kate Ridgway, said that the measurements and material of the box, copper, match historical accounts. As the contents inside were unpacked, they appeared to match the description of the 1887 time capsule they had been looking for.