Woodstock Museum is Documenting the Pandemic and the Local Response

Wednesday, 22 April 2020 17:28

This historic photo depicts men wearing masks during the Spanish Influenza epidemic in 1918. The Woodstock Museum was surprised by the lack of local firsthand accounts and artifacts documenting the epidemic during the fi

The Woodstock Museum National Historic Site is looking for your help to document the COVID-19 pandemic locally, so the information can be shared with future generations.

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 absoutely 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.”