VAN NUYS : Air Conditioner Protects Artifacts
The history of the San Fernando Valley will be preserved a little longer, thanks to new air conditioning at a Van Nuys museum that will preserve delicate fabrics and paper documents from heat deterioration.
A $6,500 donation from Mr. and Mrs. F. Robert Bauer provided the new air conditioning unit for the Valley College Historical Museum, which houses hundreds of antique dresses, artifacts and historical papers dating back to 1890.
“In the long run, it will help us preserve the fabrics and the documents,” said Austin Conover, overseer of the 10-room museum at Valley College. “The heat is such that it’s been very bad for these garments. You can actually see the places where it has had an impact.”
The museum, which was founded in 1974, is a major resource for scholars and graduate students working on Valley history. The building also provides space for guest lectures and oral histories.
Included in the collection are the Whitsett Papers, which chronicle the formation and early days of Van Nuys and other parts of the Valley in the first part of this century.
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