The Virginia Association of Museums (VAM) placed a World War I gas mask among the Top 10 Endangered Artifacts in the state

The Virginia Association of Museums has picked the Top 10 Endangered Artifacts in the state. One of them is a gas mask from World War I that belongs to the Historical Society of Western Virginia in Roanoke (VAM). The items are up for a vote by the public to get money to help restore them.

This is the eleventh year of a program that was made to bring attention to treasures that are in danger.

The public vote started on February 20 and lasts until March 3. At the 2023 Annual Conference in Harrisonburg, 10 items will each get $4,000. Two things will get grants of $1,000 each, and the other eight will each get $250.

The Small Box Respirator gas mask is a reminder of the chemical warfare that happened during the Great War.

Lt. Robert Johnson of the 80th Division’s 318th Infantry used it when he went to France in May 1918. The mask is in bad shape. The rubber parts are brittle, the elastic headband has broken down, the yellow-painted canister has rust spots, and the resin-coated glass lenses have cracks. Johnson stayed in the Virginia National Guard until he died in 1930. He was from Bedford.

People can vote in the online poll every day at vamuseums.org. Ashley Webb, the curator who put forward the item, says, “Vote, and vote often.” It is on display in the Gift Shop of the History and Link Museums on Shenandoah Avenue, which used to be the Norfolk Western passenger station.

The winners will be chosen by a group of conservation experts from VAM, the Virginia Library, Preservation Virginia, and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.