What's inside that 1887 time capsule opened in Confederacy's capital
ABC News
An 1887 time capsule was opened in Richmond, Virginia, Wednesday after being unearthed from the base of the now-removed statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee.
A time capsule estimated to be more than 130 years old, unearthed from the base of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, was opened Wednesday in Richmond, Virginia, and the artifacts showed a snapshot of life in the Confederate capital.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam watched intently as historians used tools to painstakingly open the corroded box. After hours of working to unseal it, the team -- wearing blue latex gloves -- pulled out the first artifact: a thin maroon-colored book.
"It's very wet," Kate Ridgeway, a conservator with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, said as she peered into the rusted time capsule.
"We are trying to preserve what we can of this book," Ridgeway said.
