ST. LOUIS (KTVI/CNN) - History buffs are anxious to see what's inside of a time capsule from 1914, recovered Thursday from a Confederate memorial.
Crews in St. Louis found the sealed box as they worked to dismantle the monument, seen by some as a symbol of racism.
The monument had become a target of vandalism.
"We know one of the last things put in the box was a magazine placed in there by one of the soldiers from Gen. Pickett's division at Gettysburg," Mark Trout, director of the Missouri Civil War Museum, said.
What else is contained inside the capsule isn't exactly known, but it could be war medals and maybe even something marking the monument's controversy.
The monument was constructed in 1914, and it was a divisive symbol then, but Trout said the opponents of the model gave in hoping to use it as a symbol of unity.
"Their exact words were let them build it wide as they want, as deep as they want and as tall as they want, because it will stand as milestones to see how great the republic has come since the dark days of the Civil War," Trout said.
The capsule is a sealed copper box that was found under a concrete slab that said, "in honor of the soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy."
Trout said the time capsule is expected to be unsealed privately in the next few days.
Whatever is inside will be revealed at an upcoming fundraiser for the Missouri Civil War Museum.
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