Lee Monument Time Capsule Reveal

History of a History Emerges from Lee Monument Cornerstone Box

By Chris Graham

Photos by John Dixon

American Historical Association president James Grossman is fond of saying, “everything has a history.” Even what we call history has a history.

The recovery of the cornerstone box from Richmond’s Robert E. Lee Monument has given us an opportunity to explore that history of a history familiar to many of us.

Lee Monument builders placed the cornerstone box in the monument’s pedestal in 1889, and workers removed the box in December 2021 while dismantling that pedestal. In January 2020, American Civil War Museum staff visited the box and its contents that are currently undergoing conservation at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Most of the objects recovered were paper—pamphlets, books, money, maps, and chamber of commerce booklets. Some are unfolded on baker’s racks, allowing the folds and creases to relax. Others are in a freezer, awaiting an opportunity to mitigate moisture damage.

Taken together, the dozens of objects represent an intriguing snapshot of Richmond in 1889 and of the history that the dominant culture then wanted conveyed to future generations. They were remarkably successful in their endeavors.

(Top cover photo) ACWM's Chris Graham (left) and CEO Dr. Rob Havers (right) observe Katherine Ridgway, State Archological Conservator at Virginia Department of Historic Resources, as she examines a book from the time capsule. An illustration of Robert E. Lee’s family tree found in the time capsule.

Dr. Havers looks over artifacts from the capsule.

The copper case that held the items in near perfect condition for 131 years.

Katherine Ridgway displays and explains some of the paper items.

While awaiting conservation, the VDHR commissioned a series of blog posts from local historians about the pieces in the box. ACWM curator Chris Graham has contributed two posts. One is on Carlton McCarthy’s well known book, Detailed Minutae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia and the other is a pamphlet containing speeches delivered during the 1886 annual reunion of the Pegram’s Battalion Association.

Both documents were designed to express heartfelt regard for former comrades in arms—the living and the dead. Both documents did so through facts, memories, elisions, rhetorical flights, and political intentionality.

Taken together, the lessons of McCarthy and the veterans of Pegram’s Battalion painted a picture of Confederate soldiers. They were so high minded in their sense of duty that they were not concerned with the politics of the war. They were so good humored and virtuous that the hardships they faced and overcame only proved the superiority of the White southern character and cause.

This way of conceiving of Civil War soldiers—as uniformly virtuous and as aloof from politics—dominated the way that Americans thought about the war itself for much of the twentieth century. It was also deceptive and untrue. Generations of historians, reenactors, and museum professionals have chipped away at this understanding to reveal an experience that was marked by intense political engagement, petty rivalries in the ranks, the self-inflicted wounds of To see the blog posts on McCarthy and Pegram’s Battalion and the rest of the contents, visit the Virginia Department of Historic Resources: www.dhr.virginia.gov/blog/

Confederate policy, all alongside the courage regularly exhibited on battlefields and stoic endurance of shortages in camp. Altogether, we have a much more complex vision of the experience of Confederate soldiers and veterans today and can more accurately discern the value of the contents of the cornerstone box.

Chris Graham is the ACWM Curator of Exhibitions