On October 27, 1887 a copper time capsule was placed in the cornerstone of the Robert E. Lee monument’s pedestal in Richmond, Virginia. What was inside??
Records from the Library of Virginia suggest that 37 Richmond residents, organizations, and business contributed about 60 objects to the capsule, real, tangible artifacts of both Richmond and America’s history.
On June the 4, 2020, however, Virginia governor Ralph Northam announced that the Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond,along with all other statues along monument avenue that had been erected to commemorate Civil War Veterans would be removed and on September 8, 2021 crews from the city executed the governor’s orders bringing the history of Monument Avenue to a close.
In an effort to further destroy the historic integrity of the site, Governor Northam announced plans to replace the 134-year old time capsule embedded in the pedestal with a new time capsule that was deemed more representative of modern culture in Virginia and more palatable to modern society as a whole.
Thankfully crews were unable to locate the original time-capsule and so it remains in it’s rightful place as a part of Virginia and our countries history.
But what was inside?
This newspaper article from Late October of 1887 provides a list of the articles placed in the copper box.
VIDEO HERE (8:51 minutes)
