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Published Aug 29, 2023 • 3 minute read
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Ever since a box from nearly 200 years ago was found under a monument at the U.S. Military Academy in May, cadets have wondered what was inside. Their predictions included a flag, a bayonet, a class ring or a diary.
This week, academy leaders said they would “unlock secrets from the past” when they opened the time capsule during a live-streamed ceremony. “Exciting Reminder!” the academy tweeted on Sunday, urging viewers to set their alarms for the Monday unveiling.
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The roughly one-square-foot box — hidden under a black cloth — took centre stage during the ceremony in West Point, N.Y.
Historian Jennifer Voigtschild opened the event by asking cadets, military officers and civilians in attendance: “Are we ready to see what is in that box?”
But when the cloth was removed and an archaeologist carefully lifted off the top cover to reveal the interior, spectators laughed. There was only silt inside.
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“The box didn’t quite meet expectations,” Paul Hudson, an archaeologist at the academy, told the crowd.
The box was found in the base of a monument constructed in the late 1820s in honour of Polish military engineer Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who aided America during the Revolutionary War. It is one of the academy’s oldest statues, and it wasn’t moved from its spot overlooking the Hudson River until 2021, when it became necessary to repair cracks in its column and base.
Christopher Branson, the academy’s repair, maintenance and minor construction manager, was renovating the monument in May when he discovered the box. Officials said it dated to 1828 or 1829 — about 26 years after the academy was founded. Engineers X-rayed the lead box and found “anomalies” inside that could be objects, Hudson said.
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On Aug. 15, the academy announced the box’s discovery to the general public and scheduled the ceremony.
“The capsule’s contents will certainly add to the West Point story and is another example of past generations of cadets gripping hands with present and future generations,” Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steven Gilland said in a statement at the time.
Academy officials asked cadets and civilians for their predictions. Brig. Gen. Shane Reeves, the academic board’s dean, said the most notable guesses on social media included a corn chowder recipe, maps of West Point’s steam tunnels, a pair of former president Ulysses S. Grant’s beard trimmers and former superintendent Sylvanus Thayer’s ungraded classwork.
“This is clearly an extraordinary day at West Point,” Reeves said during the ceremony. “I’m obviously personally excited.”
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When Gilland grabbed the microphone, he promised the reveal would be better than when TV reporter Geraldo Rivera drew millions of viewers in 1986 to open gangster Al Capone’s secret vault. It was empty, except for debris.
Before the box was opened, officials spoke about the Kosciuszko monument. Then Hudson explained how he would open the box before he started chiseling.
“What do we see?” Voigtschild asked moments later.
“Nothing quite yet,” Hudson responded.
While he and another archaeologist investigated the contents with a flashlight, Voigtschild asked officials to speak more about Kosciuszko and the monument.
A few minutes later, Voigtschild asked Hudson for an update.
“Um, sure, Jenn,” Hudson responded as spectators laughed. He said he found silt, adding that he would investigate further. He said it’s possible that an item inside the box had broken down over time.
“We don’t want to think that they went through all the trouble to put this box in the monument,” Hudson said, “and not put anything in it.”
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