There’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic we are all living through is historic.
To help future historians understand what this experience was like, the Moakley Archives & Institute at Suffolk University is asking students, faculty and staff to submit content to a new project that aims to document their lives during this crisis.
The archives is participating in A Journal of the Plague Year, a crowd-sourced digital archive about COVID-19 that is curated by more than 80 faculty and graduates from universities and historical societies across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.
Suffolk University, like every other community in the country, has seen major changes since the start of the pandemic. Students and professors now participate in online classes, faculty and staff are working remotely and most students have had to move out of dorms, among other changes.
“Today’s events are tomorrow’s history, and this is an opportunity to help shape that historical narrative by sharing your personal perspective on how the pandemic is affecting you,” said Michael Dello Iacono, university records manager of the Moakley Archive & Institute.
The archives encourages types of submissions from texts, videos, photographs, social media posts, memes, emails, news articles, recipes, artwork, journal entries and anything else that relates to the pandemic.
While submissions do not have to be related to Suffolk, contributors to the project should include “Suffolk University” in the description or title of their submission so the archives can easily find it.
Dello Iacono said each submission to the project will play an important role in preserving history.
“Years from now, historians and researchers will seek to answer questions about what people experienced during this time: ‘How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the Suffolk community? How did our community respond to the crisis? What was life like for people quarantined, for months?’” said Dello Iacono.
Email [email protected] if you have any questions.
A Journal of the Plague Year: https://covid19.omeka.net/
Submission form: https://covid19.omeka.net/contribution
More information on the guide: https://suffolk.libguides.com/c.php?g=1030025
