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A conservator from the University of Virginia examines the contents of the time capsule: books, a photograph and a coin
Photo: Steve Helber / AP
According to an 1887 newspaper article, a time capsule hidden under an equestrian statue of controversial Southern General Robert E. Lee was supposed to include Civil War relics such as buttons and balls, Confederate currency, maps, a Bible, and a picture of the murdered man President Abraham Lincoln contained in his coffin.
A few days after the statue was dismantled in Richmond, authorities actually found a time capsule in the statue's base - a container the size of a shoebox. However, the find puzzles historians. When the governor of the US state of Virginia, Ralph Northam, lifted the lid, he did not find relics from the Civil War as he had hoped. Instead, the capsule contained books, a photograph and a coin.
The equestrian statue was erected in 1890 in honor of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in the former capital of the southern states in Richmond.
In September she was removed after protests over the Confederate’s role in slavery.
The monument in Richmond, like a comparable statue in Charlottesville that was dismantled months ago, was the focus of national anti-racism protests in 2020 after the death of the black George Floyd in a brutal police operation in Minneapolis.
Book in the capsule is younger than expected
As the researchers now found, instead of the hoped-for collector's treasures, the time capsule contained a guide for astronomers and navigators from 1875, as well as another book that was only published in 1899 - two years after the capsule was supposedly hidden from the newspaper report. The book, entitled "The Huguenot Lovers: A Tale of the Old Dominion," was written by a certain CPE Burgwyn, who identifies himself on the cover as a consulting engineer for the Lee Monument Association. The books and the photo showed signs of water damage. The origin of the coin that was also found has not yet been clarified.
Robert E. Lee had led the Confederates in the American Civil War of the Southern States against the Northern States.
During the conflict in the 1860s, the then largely agricultural southern states split off from the USA and ultimately fought unsuccessfully to maintain slavery, which had been abolished in the rest of the country.
Lee is glorified as a hero by the far-right scene in the USA.
While civil rights activists are calling for statues honoring Confederate officials to be removed, many Republicans are in favor of preserving them.
apr / AFP