A Bible with a coin set, a copy of Harper's Weekly magazine from 1865 with a photo on the cover of a person crying at the Abraham Lincoln grave, a Confederate flag and a Minié bullet, a type of bullet used during the Civil War.
The time capsule found beneath the now removed statue of Southern General Robert Lee has been opened.
Historians and restorers speak of a rare treasure even though Lincoln's much sought-after photo in his coffin was not found. The opening of the rectangular copper box took place during a ceremony also broadcast online and which attracted thousands of people, disappointed last week by the opening of the first box found, from which only a book and a photo of a marble worker working on a granite pedestal. The meager discovery fueled hope and anticipation for the second time capsule found under the Lee statue removed from Richmond, the capital of the Confederate states of America during the Civil War.
The fall of the imposing monument was the culmination of the US battle against the symbols of slavery and racism. Erected in 1890, it overlooked Monument Avenue, the street in Richmond that honored the heroes of the Confederacy. Last September was the last one standing after the busts of JEB Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis and Matthew Fontaine Maury were removed in the wake of the anti-racial protests triggered with the death of George Floyd.
The contents of the precious box were extracted with the utmost caution: the time capsule was in fact submerged in water but the objects inside it avoided the worst.
"They are in much better condition than we expected. We assumed everything was wet, but it isn't," says restorer Kate Ridgway, noting how the first box found was probably abandoned by those involved in the construction and installation. of the gigantic monument that weighed 12 tons.
Now it is up to the restorers to recover the relics and documents in the best possible way, verifying if they hide any secrets.
