History being made

During these difficult times, it is inspiring to see how the community is responding. We see businesses adapting their business models to keep their doors open and continue to serve their communities. There are community members stepping forward to serve food in our food pantries and schools, checking in on our neighbors and even sewing facial masks.

We were particularly in awe of Shenandoah County Library’s initiative to create a COVID-19 journal to record the lives of community members during this pandemic and preserve the stories as part of the county’s historic narrative. I wanted to find out more and thought you might like to too, so I spoke to Zach Hottel, the archivist at the Shenandoah County Library who is organizing the COVID-19 journal.

Where did the idea originate and what do you hope to collect?

Part of the mission of the Shenandoah County Library’s Truban Archives involves collecting materials that will help individuals understand more about our community’s collective history. Sometimes historic material isn’t from the past, sometimes, we collect material as that history is being made.

Since COVID-19 is, and will continue to have a major impact on our community, we made the decision to launch this project to document how people lived their lives through COVID-19. This project is evolving. We have already expanded from just the idea of written journals to also include online materials, videos, art, and even screenshot captures of social media posts.

While there is the assumption we are only be looking for COVID-19 related experiences or reflections on large-scale events, what we really want to document is how everyday people in Shenandoah County are doing what they have to do in order to survive and thrive, despite what is going on around them.

Do you know of similar projects happening?

There are other institutions doing similar projects in the state and around the country, but I do not know of any surrounding jurisdictions that are doing something similar.

While we are focused on Shenandoah County residents, we are accepting information from the entire region and currently have a few volunteers from other areas participating.

What kind of response have you gotten?

Currently, we have 27 individuals registered to produce some type of journal. Several are doing traditional written logs. Others are doing online blogs and a few are making videos. We also have a few interested amateur photographers who will be sending us images and some people who are collecting other materials. Volunteers come from throughout the county and are of all age ranges and professions, though there are more retirees and students who have more time and resources to do such a project.

Based on the digital images, social media screen shots and the other materials we have here collected so far, I think the final product will reflect a sense of hope and shared community during this difficult time. However, some will be of a more somber tone, especially where individuals have a direct connection with someone who was infected with COVID-19.

What will you do with the information?

The information will become part of our collection and transferred to our archival holdings. My goal is to have something available either at the library or online by April 1, 2021. However, in some cases, contributors might request we place restrictions on when and how materials become available so we will work with them on a case-by-case basis.

What if people are interested in participating?

We are continuing to accept volunteers for several weeks and don’t plan to restrict participation. Guidelines are available at countylib.org/local-history, but interested individuals just simply need to contact me via email or call (540) 984-8200 to sign-up or learn more.

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