Features editor Kathy Lu contributes this brief on endangered artifacts.

"Grasshopper", Aeronca L-3 Light Observation Aircraft; circa 1940s, National D-Day Memorial; Bedford, VA

Several pieces that belong to Southwest Virginia institutions are in the running to be named one of “Virginia’s Top 10 Endangered Artifacts.”

Hosted by the Virginia Association of Museums, the program is asking the public to vote on the artifacts nominated by museums.

Included in the list are: an L-3 “Grasshopper” plane at the National D-Day Memorial; records of African-American midwife Georgianna Saunders at the Salem Museum; the Lake Pearl sleeping car at the Virginia Museum of Transportation; and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Locomotive 701 of Covington’s Alleghany Historical Society.

Fans can vote at www.vamuseums.org. The program aims to raise public awareness about collection care needs.

— Virginia Associations of Museums