Now that an iconic statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee has been dethroned from Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia,
a team attempts to remove a piece of history from under its massive pedestal.
A time capsule from 1887, which state officials believe is hidden within the statue's base, was to be removed Thursday and replaced with a new one containing items that reflect the current era.
Excavation crews were already having a hard time finding their exact location when one of the cranes they used to drill through the dense concrete blocks broke down, interrupting work for hours until another crane was able to replace it.
Despite having drilled in several places on the base, after 12 hours of work, they could
not find the enigmatic container.
Workers plan to return on Friday to put the stones they removed in place and insert a new time capsule into the cornerstone.
They used ground-penetrating radars, a metal detector, and other construction equipment to try to locate the
copper time capsule
they believed was hidden within or under a keystone of a 40-meter-high granite pedestal. (12 meters) in which Lee's bronze statue had stood since 1890.
Gov. Ralph Northam's chief of staff, Clark Mercer, said it is doubtful that workers will go back for the time capsule but left a small possibility open.
"We have looked where we thought it was. That does not prevent us from finding it in the future.
But for now, the mystery will continue,
" he said.
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Among the new items in the new capsule are a small glass of an expired Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19, a Black Lives Matter movement sticker and a photograph of a black ballerina with her fist raised near Lee's statue. , after racial justice protests broke out after George Floyd was killed by police officers in Minneapolis in 2020.
Historical records and imaging tests helped state officials determine the location of the old capsule.
Local historian Dale Brumfield, who has done extensive research on the capsule, noted that he is certain that the capsule is somewhere on the pedestal, citing a newspaper article from 1887.
"I'm sure there is a capsule somewhere
,
" he
said.
"We just can't find where."
The newspaper article suggests that the copper capsule contains mostly memorabilia, including a silver dollar and a collection of Confederate buttons, but one line of the text has piqued the curiosity of historians.
Among the items mentioned is a "photograph of (Abraham) Lincoln lying in his coffin
.
"
It is not known what kind of photo it is but the article says it was donated by Mrs. Pattie Leake, who was a school principal and part of a prominent local family.
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Lincoln historian and scholar Harold Holzer told The Associated Press earlier this year that he does not believe the image is an actual photograph, because the only known photo of the dead Lincoln was taken by photographer Jeremiah Gurney on April 24, 1865 at the New York City Hall.
Teams dismantle the pedestal of the Robert E. Lee statue to recover an 1887 time capsule in Richmond, Virginia.
AP Photo |
Steve HelberAP / AP
Holzer thinks it's more likely a Currier & Ives lithographic print of Lincoln in New York or a sketch made by someone who viewed the president's body during a two-week tour of his burial in Springfield, Illinois.
Lee's bronze statue was one of five huge Confederate tributes on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia
, and the only one that belonged to the state.
The other four were taken down last summer, but Lee's fall was blocked by two lawsuits.
Last week a Virginia Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for the monument to be removed.
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The governor assured that the original time capsule reflects Virginia in 1890, but the 39 elements in the new capsule show "who we are in 2021".
In a press release Northam said that “the last 18 months have seen historic changes, from the pandemic to the racial justice protests that led to the removal of these monuments to a lost cause.
It is appropriate that we replace the old time capsule with a new one that tells that story
. "
With information from AP.