LETTER: County historical society seeks local accounts of pandemic
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL FILE
Editor’s Note: The following is a letter submitted to the Sentinel from the Schuylkill County Historical Society.
No doubt, you heard people say that we are living through historic times. The inevitable comparisons to the Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1918 is routinely made by pundits.
To be sure, that is a correct parallel in many ways, but hopefully not in terms of deaths when all is said and done. We are living through a great upheaval in our everyday lives. Governor Wolf told us to shelter in place. He closed non-essential businesses. Officials told us to practice “social distancing.” These are changes that we have not seen since 1918.
It is in these times, however, that we need to remember that we are all historians. History is no longer just written by great men or the victors or even newspapers. Everyday people and their experiences fill out the historical record of events.
We at the Schuylkill County Historical Society want to tell you that you can contribute to that record. As you go about your everyday lives in this current situation of combating COVID-19, future generations will want to know what you did and felt during these trying times.
They will attempt to construct the events of these historic times to recreate events. So, chronicle the events that you are living through this current crisis. You can do this through a few methods: journals or blogs, taking pictures, video what you see. Each of these methods tell the story of this pandemic in their own unique way.
Here are some prompts you can use when chronicling the pandemic:
- How had your life changed compared to yesterday? Last week? Last month?
- What challenges are you facing during the pandemic?
- How has your daily schedule changed and in what ways?
- How have relationships with family, friends and strangers changed since the start of the pandemic?
- How have your views/beliefs changed? This could be, but not limited to, social, religious or political.
- What are you enjoying (if anything) about this time?
- What are your hopes for the future?
No, you do not have to hand over your records to the Schuylkill County Historical Society when this is all over, although if you wanted to, we would not mind.
However, once you are gone, your records may be found by future generations of historians who study the early 21st Century with the goal of how this situation affected the everyday person. What were you thinking: your fears, your aspirations?
You can help paint the picture beyond the president or the governor or the news. You all are a vital link in the historical record. Leave your mark.
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