Finding Aid of the Zebulon Vance Monument Time Capsule Collection, PC.7014

[Identification of Item] PC.7014, Zebulon Vance Monument Time Capsule Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Western Regional Archives, Asheville, NC, USA.

The collection contains newspapers, programs, periodicals, lists of officials and schoolchildren, and City of Asheville and Masonic publications.

Collection is arranged by type of material. Oversized items are in flat storage.

On December 22, 1897, the cornerstone for a granite obelisk honoring former governor, Civil War colonel, US Senator, and Buncombe County native, Zebulon B. Vance (1830-1894), was laid by the Masonic community at Pack Square in downtown Asheville, and in the cornerstone was placed a time capsule. In 2008, the city enlisted the services of a professional conservator who determined that due to natural degradation over time, the Vance Monument was in need of restoration.

In 2012, the non-profit organization, 26th North Carolina Regiment, partnered with the city and the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources (now the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources) and began to raise funds for the monument's restoration. Funds received included $50,000 from the Vetust Study Club; $115,000 from Civil War re-enactors; $11,000 from the City of Asheville itself; and the money raised by the 26th North Carolina Regiment. In March 2015, with restoration work approaching, the time capsule was located and removed. Because the monument had shifted over the years, the copper box used to house the items was found to have been damaged.

Asheville officials contacted the Western Regional Archives, and lead archivist Heather South was on hand for the time capsule's unearthing. The documents inside (including the program from the laying of the cornerstone in 1897, newspapers, and a list of Asheville officials) were wet, but in remarkably good shape. Bound volumes, such as a Bible and a Masonic code book, did not fare as well. The books, newspapers, programs, rosters, and four silver coins were removed from the copper box and taken to the conservation room at the Western Office of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, on Riceville Road in Oteen. The damp paper items were gently unfolded and placed on drying racks. Smaller items were later scanned in-house, and oversized items were sent to Western Carolina University. Depending on need, some documents received additional treatment.

Following renovations, the monument was rededicated on June 6, 2015. A new time capsule, containing items from the original copper 1897 box and new additions, was placed under the monument September 18, 2015 with plans to open it in 2115. Citizen input was solicited, and among the items selected for inclusion were stickers and coasters that reflected Asheville's many breweries, an Asheville Tourists schedule, and a citizen roll-call signed by 1,000 people.

Collection Contents

Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894

Masons

Monuments

Time capsules

Asheville (N.C.)

Donated by the City of Asheville in 2015.

Initial processing by Robert Nowland, Summer, 2016.