Katherine Ridgway is the Virginia Department of Historic Resources’ state archeological conservator, but she’s unofficially taken on a new title in recent years: time capsule lady.
“I have been helping out with all sorts of things,” she says, mentioning the creation of new time capsule at the Richmond Flying Squirrels’ CarMax Park as one example. “I actually have a nametag now that says, ‘Time Capsule Lady.’”
Ridgway acquired this moniker through overseeing the removal and opening of the two time capsule-like boxes that were found underneath Richmond’s Robert E. Lee Monument. Some of the information that she has gleaned can be found in “The Buried Cause: Unearthing Hidden History in the Lee Monument Cornerstone,” a book by Ridgway, Christina Keyser Vida and Elizabeth Moore that came out earlier this year.
Published by UVA Press, the book dives into the contents of Confederate cornerstone boxes, details processes to preserve items that have been buried, and explains best practices for creating new time capsules. It also explores some obscure Virginiana, devoting chapters to calling cards, uniform buttons, Confederate muster rolls and other topics…