Woodstock Museum Invites People To Help Them Document The COVID-19 Pandemic

Sunday, 26 April 2020 08:15

They're asking for people of all ages who live in Woodstock and Oxford County to send written accounts, photographs, artwork or record a video of their experience during self-isolation and physical distancing.

WOODSTOCK - The Woodstock Museum National Historic Site is documenting the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is happening right now in our country and across the globe is absolutely historic. They are working to document the pandemic locally and are looking for your help.

Woodstock and Oxford County residents of all ages are invited to share their written accounts, artwork, photographs or video recordings of their experiences during this time of self-isolation and physical distancing.

Curator Karen Houston says the project was inspired by an exhibit the Museum curated in 2018 on the final year of World War I.

“We wanted to learn how the Spanish flu affected both the warfront and the Oxford County homefront in 1918, but we were surprised by the lack of local firsthand accounts, artifacts and photographs from that period. Our community can play an active role in preserving this current moment in history for future generations of historians studying the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Some of the experiences the Museum hopes to document include:

- Shopping conditions and how they changed over time
- Financial challenges
- Feelings caused by the outbreak and thoughts about social distancing
- Keeping children occupied during self-isolation
- What new or newly rediscovered hobbies or crafts were taken up
- Stories from the front lines – essential services
- Struggles of family members or friends infected with the virus
- Stories of everyday heroes, i.e. people helping neighbours during self-isolation or people accepting inconveniences for the greater good.

Submissions can be sent by email to museum@cityofwoodstock.ca with the subject line “Writing COVID-19 History.”