CAPE MAY AIRPORT — The Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum (NASW) received a regrant for collections care from the Cape May County Division of Culture and Heritage, under the direction of the County’s Board of Chosen Freeholders. The Division administered the funds that had been provided through a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a Division of the Department of State. The museum was awarded $3,500 to purchase supplies and equipment to help organize and protect its collection, which consists of thousands of historical objects, books, papers, and ephemera, in addition to aircraft and engines.
NASW used grant funds to purchase data loggers and environmental monitors that measure temperature, relative humidity, and light levels. This equipment will help staff understand the current storage environment for objects. Hangar #1 is un-insulated and currently does not have a comprehensive heating/cooling system. In order to combat the daily and seasonal variations in temperature, microenvironments will be created for collection items using archival quality boxes, buffer paper, and folders purchased with grant funds.
The care and organization of NASW’s collection will have a major impact on the museum’s audience and the local community. Without proper care, objects and papers will be lost to deterioration over time. Cared for properly, the collection will remain available to researchers and museum visitors for generations.
Cape May Airport was formerly Naval Air Station Wildwood, which served as a World War II dive-bomber training center. The museum is dedicated to the 42 airmen who perished while training at Naval Air Station Wildwood between 1943 and 1945.
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