A statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee that towered over Richmond, Virginia, was taken down this fall. But something new went into its pedestal. Workers installed a new time capsule after fruitless efforts to locate an 1887 capsule.
The 21-foot bronze sculpture was placed atop a 40-foot granite pedestal in 1890. The sculpture stood among four other massive Confederate statues along Richmond’s Monument Avenue.
The four city-owned statues were taken down last summer. Two lawsuits seeking to block Governor Ralph Northam’s order delayed the removal of the Lee statue. But Virginia’s Supreme Court decided that the state could remove the divisive monument.
Crews spent a day moving large stones in hopes of finding the old time capsule. They reassembled the pedestal after giving up the search. A newspaper article from 1887 suggests the old capsule contains Civil War memorabilia.
The new capsule holds remembrances of current events. Those include an expired vial of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and a photograph of a black ballerina protesting near the Lee statue.
The pedestal will remain, at least for now. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will lead a redesign of the avenue.
Elizabeth Johnson Rice was a member of the “Richmond 34.” In 1960, that group of Virginia Union University students staged a sit-in to protest segregation at a downtown department store.
Now 80 years old, Rice compared the huge Lee statue and a far more modest marker of the sit-in. She says Richmond should work to better tell its black and civil rights history: “Even to this day, people still don’t know about the Richmond 34.”
This situation raises tough questions. How do we remember history—both the good and the sin that drives so much of it? Because Lee inherited enslaved people as if they were property and not God-created humans with souls, and he did not free them but kept them for many years, many people saw the huge statue standing proud in the state capital as glorifying slavery and wrong treatment of black people. (Read Museum Displays Exiled Statue for a look at how one group approached this issue.)
Henry Marsh III is a civil rights attorney. He was Richmond’s first black mayor. The 87-year-old was pleased that the Lee statue was removed. But he also feels there should be room to acknowledge other parts of Lee’s nonmilitary legacy, including his time as president of Washington & Lee University.
Marsh cautions against installing new statues in the future.
“I think there’s a problem with idolizing people with statues,” Marsh says. “Because times change.” Daniel 2:21 makes a similar statement: “[God] changes times and seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings.”
Why? This story prompts us to consider how we can rightly remember history with wisdom, prudence, and respect toward others.
Pray: For wisdom for those who make decisions about monuments, for the ability to respect those with whom we disagree, and for glory and honor to go to God, the author of history, and not humans.
1st comment
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2nd Comment
I don't think they should take it down. I get that it might be offensive to some people, but Robert E. Lee was an important figure in American history. Also, Lee, while he owned slaves, he didn't hate the union, in fact he was offered a general in the Union, he choose to stay true to his state of Virginia and fight for the state. Sorry if this offends anybody, that is not my intention
Lee almost joined the union
Lee almost joined the union but since his family was in the confederacy he sided with them.
@Sarah F
Thank you for trying not to offend me but i am not offended.
@ Jonathan
What? are you offended or not?
stupid stupid stupid
that is so disrespectful
He wanted to join the Union
He wanted to join the Union and supported them but he wanted to be loyal to his home state of Virginia so when they seceded he became the Confederate general
Robert E. Lee statue
I'm glad that they took the statue down. And that other guy is right, I'm pretty sure that there are other ways to remember Robert E. Lee.
@Above
I agree with Sarah F. Lee could have joined the Union and almost did, but just stayed with his homestate, not because he liked the idea of having slaves. We are studying the Civil War right now. He was a key character in the civil war. I don't think they should have taken down that statue. We have to look at the war from both sides and face it. Taking down statues does not change history. We need to remember what both sides did. They both did things that were not nice in the least. It is a good example of what hate can do to a country. These monuments are good reminders.
This is Mylee
I think that we cant erase history cause then we are domed to do it agian.....
Also, the Civil War wasn't
Also, the Civil War wasn't only fought about slaves, it was also about states rights. Slavery was the main thing for the North, but the South wanted the right to choose if they had slaves or not. I'm not saying the Civil War shouldn't have happened, or that slavery is good, but states rights are a good thing and even a Constitutional right.
This is JENNA
I think that that the removal of statues is horrible idea! We are trying to cover up our history! they are quite literally trying to rewrite the history books. I get that the main argument is that some of these statues were of people that had slaves or advocated for slavery, and that's a horrible thing that they did that, but they were still important figures in our history. I fully support BLM but this has gotten out of hand and at this point that's not what its about anymore. Its a grave mistake to cover up our beginnings. This way we can't learn from our mistakes and we will just repeat them.
Sorry about this rant and I don't mean to force my view or be disrespectful to anyone, this is just my opinion.
@Sarah F
Yeah, it originally started as a war to keep the Union together. Lincoln did not really have slaves in mind when the war started, he just wanted the states to stop seceding and to come back together in one nations. Hence, "United we stand, divided we fall." But then the slaves did not want to be left out of the war, so eventually it turned into both a keep together war and a slave war.
We can never please everyone.
We can never please everyone. If we take down anything that offends someone there would be no statues left.
Sorry that it offends some
Sorry that it offends some people but if something offends me I'm not going to demand that it be taken down.
@Morgan
I totally agree.
sorry if this is offensive to anyone..
Why put a expired covid - 19 vaccine vial in ???? and a picture of a person protesting .. why??
@MORGAN H
i agree
@Brooke B
Maybe so that if someone finds it 100 years later, history can repeat itself. (sarcasm)
RILEY D
yeah * also with sarcasm :)
How a lot of you people sound
Honestly Germany shouldn't have taken down any of the Hitler statues or Nazi memorials after World War Two. Even if you disagree with them or they offend you, they are an important part of history and shouldn't be forgotten! Taking them down is an attempt to rewrite history from the radical left. Really, Hitler statues are such an important reminder of history we should start building new ones. Every American town should have a big statue of Hitler in the center.
@Zack
I don't think anyone was taking it to the extreme of saying there should be a statue of every important person in every city. A statue doesn't have to be glorifying someone, it could be used as a way to teach about history and to remember the past. Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
@Zack W
Actually, you might find this funny, but Hitler statues should be left up, in my opinion. They DO teach us about history. I have visited a concentration camp before. You don't really know what it is like until you go see the places where the Jews were kept, and how many were put in such small places. Sure, no one LIKES to remember horrible times, but we do need to remember them anyway. But I am not saying we need to build more and bigger statues of Hitler. The ones that are there are there to teach us something. Robert E. Lee was not an evil man either, like Hitler was. He didn't even own slaves. He just went with the South because he wanted to be loyal to his home state of Virginia. If he had decided to go with the North, then everybody would probably celebrate him, wouldn't they? The more I have been reading and learning about the Civil war, the more I realize that people now a day want to point their finger at the South and say that they were evil, just because the North won. But really, nobody was trying to be evil. They were simply fighting for what they thought was right. Everyone is entitled to their own ideas, even if they are wrong. And the funny thing is, both sides were praying to God to help them. I don't know how God handled it. There were good men on both sides.
@Sarah F
That's true, not every statue is glorifying someone. But this statue clearly is. If you want to use it for educational purposes, put it in a museum. Nothing like this deserves to be displayed in a public city square.
@Riley D.
I do find it very funny.
Also. your take on Robert E Lee is ridiculous. He was a horrible man who doesn't deserve a shred of respect. I couldn't care less about what he thought was right, I care what is actually right. The more I learn about the civil war the more disgusted I am by people who continue to defend confederacy and the people who created it.
@Zack
Would you leave George Washington or Ulysses S Grant statues up?
All Men are Created Equal
The people that pushed for this statue to be torn down are the same people that say whites are inherently evil ,whatever happened to ''All men are created equal'' .Either way, there is no excuse for spraying graffiti all over statues.
This is Alecia
NO! They can’t do that! Robert E. Lee was for abolishing slavery. He only joined the confederacy because he was from Virginia and he believed that was what God wanted him to do. I studied the civil war, and I believe most of the confederates just wanted state rights! This is against American beliefs!