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SPOTLIGHT
Make ltTo
Washington, D.C.
BY SCVHISTORY.COM
PHOTOS BY JESSICA BOYER
Three sets of artifacts from the Rancho Camulos
Museum collection were recently shipped to the
Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. for
inclusion in the "Many Voices, One Nation"
exhibit at the National Museum of American ...
History.
The new permanent exhibit, which opens
June 28,"presents the 500-year journey of
how many distinct peoples and cultures
met, mingled and created the culture
of the United States:' The artifacts from
The original Rancho Camulos are expected to be on
wooden cross
display three years or more.
th
The artifacts include: the late 18 Century
red sacred heart from the 1860s Camulos chapel; the original wooden cross from the
Del Valle family's chapel garden at Camulos; and a mortar and pestle attributed to the
Tataviam people who lived in the Piru area and maintained a village on the (later) Rancho The red sacred heart
Camulos property until 1803, when they were removed to the San Fernando Mission.
The sacred heart was previously loaned for an exhibit at Loyola Marymount University, where Josefa del Valle Forster had
donated other family heirlooms just before her death in 1943.
Late 19 Century photographs show this elaborately jeweled Sacred Heart once
th
resided on the altar in the Camulos chapel, easy to see for those participating in the
liturgy, according to the LMU exhibit. As an object of devotion, it referred to the
sacred heart of Christ, representing His divine love for humanity. Devotion of the
Sacred Heart dates back to biblical times as a way to commemorate Christ's
acts of asceticism, love and salvation for mankind. The possession of this
Sacred Heart was another demonstration of Ysabel del Valle's pious character.
The second item, the original wooden cross, had been in protective storage
at Rancho Camulos Museum. Visitors can see a replica of the cross in the
garden area next to the chapel. It is painted white, as the original seems to
have been at one time.
Adding some mystery to history, it is not known whether the mortar and
pestle, the third set of artifacts, were found on the Rancho Camulos property
or at another location in the Piru area. Rancho Camulos Museum director Susan
Falck said they were donated by a museum volunteer prior to her tenure. However,
they were not among the grinding tools found in 2014 in August Rubel's pre-1943
museum in the winery.
For an informational treasure trove of local history, please visit scvhistory.com. 60 ►
58 June/July 2017 www.scvelitemogozine.com
I June-Julv 2017.indd 58 5/11/17 6:23 PM