“BIG History is Happening.”
These words are currently front and center on the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) website. As Coronavirus continues to affect the world, WHS has started an initiative to “Collect history as it happens.”
On its website, WHS recounts a similar situation: In 1861, the founder of the Historical Society asked soldiers at Camp Randall, in Madison, to keep diaries of their experiences on the front lines of the Civil War. These diaries are still around today as one of the Historical Society’s most important collections – much of what is known about the Civil War’s impact on Wisconsin comes from them.
Your Work a Valuable Artifact?
If you read the “COVID Journal” story in The COMM Voice, you know that it’s actually quite easy to document your experiences with Coronavirus. Now, you can turn your writings into what could someday be a valuable historical artifact, educating people for centuries to come about what life is like right now!
“It is your documentation of your experience living during the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine that will allow the Society to share history with people living 100 years from now.” . Turns out, connecting with the Wisconsin Historical Society is quite easy as well!
The Student’s Unique Perspective
The Society is looking for people in all sorts of situations. Students have a unique perspective of this: Classes moved online, campuses cleared, budding-friendships lost/found, internships, jobs, and ceremonies delayed. All that the WHS asks is that your writings “provide a summary of your day, and over time document how the pandemic has impacted your life, your family and your perspective of the world.”
Whether you have started a COVID journal or not, you can click this link to fill out the online form to sign up. You will be emailed twice: once to confirm your participation, and, near the end of the project, you will receive instructions on how to share your entries with the Wisconsin Historical Society.
YOU may go down in History
This time period will go down in history. Students in future history classes will learn about what you’re going through right now; this moment! You can contribute directly to the knowledge that people will have in the future about COVID-19 by participating in this project.
NOW, Get Writing!
Story and photo by: Grace Merkt | 51.8/11.2
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Great Idea