Crews pause search for 1887 Confederate statue time capsule - Phys.org
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Crews pause search for 1887 Confederate
statue time capsule
9 September 2021, by Denise Lavoie
capsule and were expected to spend the day
restoring the stones that had been removed from
the pedestal.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's
earlier story follows below.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)—Work crews searching for a
time capsule they believed was buried in the
pedestal under a statue of Confederate Gen.
Robert E. Lee that had towered over Richmond hit
a snag Thursday.
Crews were having difficulty finding the capsule's
precise location, and a crane they were using to lift
Crews move a section of the base as they attempt to heavy pieces of the cornerstone broke down in the
locate a time capsule said to be buried in the base of the morning, stalling work until another crane was
statue of on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va., brought in a few hours later.
Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021. The statue was removed from
the pedestal on Wednesday. Credit: AP Photo/Steve
Helber
Crews have ended their daylong search for the
1887 time capsule they believe is buried in the
pedestal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E.
Lee that had towered over Richmond after being
unable to locate it Thursday.
State officials were scheduled to remove the
134-year-old time capsule from the pedestal a day
after the massive statue was taken down. But after
removing more than half a dozen large, heavy
stones, crews were unable to find it.
Crews attempt to locate a time capsule said to be buried
in the base of the statue of on Monument Avenue in
Workers used ground-penetrating radar devices
Richmond, Va., Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021. The statue was
and a metal detector in an effort to find the removed from the pedestal on Wednesday. Credit: AP
capsule. The crews worked for more than 12 hours Photo/Steve Helber
before calling off the search just before nightfall.
Gov. Ralph Northam's chief of staff, Clark Mercer,
said crews would return Friday. He said it is State officials were scheduled to remove the
doubtful they will resume digging for the time 134-year-old time capsule from the pedestal a day
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after the large Confederate statue was taken down.
But after removing a 2,500-pound (1,134-kilogram)
capstone and a 500-pound (227-kilogram) lid,
crews were unable to pinpoint the capsule's
location.
Workers had been using ground-penetrating radar
devices to try to find the capsule beneath a third
piece of the cornerstone. Virginia Gov. Ralph
Northam's chief of staff, Clark Mercer, said crews
would keep looking around the cornerstone and
adjoining stones.
State officials also decided to dig into the lid of the
cornerstone to insert a new time capsule, which
contains items reflective of current events, including
an expired vial of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, a
Black Lives Matter sticker and a photograph of a
Black ballerina with her fist raised near the Lee
statue after racial justice protests erupted after the
police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last
year.
Crews attempt to locate a time capsule said to be buried
in the base of the statue of on Monument Avenue in
Richmond, Va., Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021. The statue was
removed from the pedestal on Wednesday. Credit: AP
Photo/Steve Helber
Historical records and imaging tests led state
officials to the spot believed to be the original
capsule's location in the 40-foot (12-meter) tall
granite pedestal.
A newspaper article from 1887 suggests the copper
time capsule contains mostly memorabilia,
including a U.S. silver dollar and a collection of
Confederate buttons. But one line from that article
has piqued the interest of historians. Listed among
the artifacts is a "picture of Lincoln lying in his
coffin."
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It is unclear what kind of a picture it is, but the statue removal was blocked by two lawsuits until a
article says it was donated by "Miss Pattie Leake," ruling from the Supreme Court of Virginia last week
who was a school principal from a prominent local cleared the way for it to be taken down
family. Wednesday.
Harold Holzer, a historian and Lincoln scholar, told After the time capsule is removed, it will be brought
The Associated Press earlier this year he believes to a state Department of Historic Resources lab,
it's highly doubtful the picture is an actual where historians will open it and begin to preserve
photograph of Lincoln in his coffin because the only the approximately 60 items believed to be inside.
known photo of Lincoln in death was taken by
photographer Jeremiah Gurney in City Hall in New
York on April 24, 1865.
A photograph by Marcus Ingram, left, is among the items
being placed in a time capsule during a ceremony in
Richmond, Va., Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. On Thursday,
the time capsule will replace one believed to be in the
base of the Robert E. Lee statue. The statue is to be
removed from its pedestal Wednesday. Credit: Bob
Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP
Some of the 39 items placed inside a time capsule during
a ceremony in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021.
On Thursday, the time capsule will replace one believed
to be in the base of the Robert E. Lee statue. The statue
was removed from its pedestal Wednesday. Among the
items were a signed collection of columns by the
Richmond Times-Dispatch's Michael Paul Williams.
Credit: Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP
Holzer said it's more likely it could be a popular
Currier & Ives lithographic print of Lincoln lying in
state in New York or a sketch done by someone
who may have witnessed Lincoln's body during a
two-week tour the president's body was taken on
before his burial in Springfield, Illinois.
The bronze equestrian statue of Lee was one of
five enormous Confederate tributes along
Richmond's Monument Avenue and the only one
A time capsule is seen after it was filled with 39 items
that belonged to the state. The four city-owned
during a ceremony in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, Sept. 7,
statues were taken down last summer, but the Lee 2021. On Thursday, the time capsule will replace one
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believed to be in the base of the Robert E. Lee statue.
The statue is to be removed from its pedestal
Wednesday. Credit: Bob Brown/Richmond Times-
Dispatch via AP
Virginia first lady Pam Northam, right, places items inside
a time capsule during a ceremony in Richmond, Va.,
Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. On Thursday, the time capsule
will replace one believed to be in the base of the Robert
E. Lee statue. The statue is to be removed from its
pedestal Wednesday. Credit: Bob Brown/Richmond
Times-Dispatch via AP
The top part of the General Robert E. Lee statue is lifted
during its removal on Monument Avenue in Richmond,
Va., Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021. The statue of Lee that
towered over Richmond, Va., for generations has been
taken down, cut into pieces and hauled away. It
happened as the former capital of the Confederacy
erased the last of the Civil War figures that once defined
its most prominent thoroughfare. Credit: Daniel Sangjib
Min/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP
Northam said the original time capsule reflects
Virginia in 1890, but the 39 items contained in the
new capsule reflect "who we are as a people in
2021."
"The past 18 months have seen historic change,
from the pandemic to protests for racial justice that
led to the removal of these monuments to a lost
cause. It is fitting that we replace the old time
capsule with a new one that tells that story,"
Northam said in a news release.
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___
An earlier version of this report incorrectly said the
pedestal is made of concrete instead of granite.
© 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten or redistributed without permission.
APA citation: Crews pause search for 1887 Confederate statue time capsule (2021, September 9)
retrieved 21 October 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2021-09-confederate-statue-capsule.html
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