The Mystery of the Lost Time Capsule

The fruitless search for the time capsule dragged on.

The story of the search for a time capsule that might exist stood out from a news-making episode that was supposed to be all about the removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee on Richmond's Monument Avenue. Although the old time capsule simply wasn't found in the statue's base, or the skirt around it, etc., nonetheless, a new one -- a cool-looking, stainless steel treasure box -- was installed. 

At this point, I suppose it doesn't do much good to dwell on wondering why there had to be such a fuss over a missing time capsule, a sidebar at best. Anyway, the lede for this story should be that Richmond's last and most significant bronze tribute to the Lost Cause, standing on public property, has come down. 

After standing for 131 years, on the morning of September 8, 2021, that statue's time for casting its shadow over the Fan District expired. For the time being, its now-famous graffiti-covered pedestal remains in place ... behind a tall, no-nonsense fence. As time passes, it will be interesting to see what location in Richmond, if any, will replace the Lee Monument as the magnet that draws to it the most political demonstrations and stunts.

In June of 2020, Richmond's Fan District residents found themselves living at the epicenter of a cultural earthquake. The demonstrations here that erupted in reaction to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis gathered a spirit of outrage and directed it at a local fracas about old statues. Once focused, that spirit chased most of the city's Confederate statues off of their pedestals, pronto.  

The Lee Monument was Ground Zero last summer.  Due to legal action, that statue took an extra year for the Commonwealth of Virginia to remove it.

Having grown up in the neighborhood with Richmond's Confederate memorials, for a long time I had been hoping that I would live long enough to see them come down. Long enough to see the end of the era for tolerating the pedestal of dishonesty propping up the "Lost Cause" version of history. 

Well, although it was stubborn to the very end, now it's evident that a year ago that era ended. Now it's done. 

Looking to the future, maybe solving the mystery of the lost time capsule will become fodder for a new bogus cause.  

-- My photos

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