Framingham History Center Accepting ‘Living History’ Submissions For its COVID-19 Pandemic Project

By Sabetha LaFontant/SOURCE intern

FRAMINGHAM – The Framingham History Center is accepting submissions from residents to share their experience during the COVID 19 pandemic.

The Center’s COVID-19 Pandemic Project, offers a chance for all Framingham community members to record their experience revealing what it was like living through these unpredicted times.

While many are bound to their homes, the room for creativity is endless. From photo submissions of empty toilet paper aisles to video journals of a day with the kids, all digital submissions are welcome.

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The Center retains records of the Framingham community dating back to the 18th & 19th centuries, which are very valuable to the center. This digital archive offers a unique opportunity for Framingham residents to share their experiences for the generations to come.

“A digital project provides a low stakes way to involved. We’re looking for quick captures of daily life. Submissions can be in a long form document, with multiple journal entries to illustrate the experience in real time. The history center will continue to take submissions when the pandemic is over as well, said Stacen Goldman, Curator at Framingham History Center and creator of the FHC’s COVID-19 Pandemic Project

Click here to record a digital daily journal or submit a photo of your daily experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

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The Center is not currently accepting donations of physical objects. We currently anticipate returning to our regular collecting practices in September 2020. In the meantime, here are some examples of items relating to the COVID-19 Pandemic the Center would be interested in when we resume collecting objects:

• Projects completed by you or members of your family (crafts, writing, hobbies, etc.)
• Curriculum packets created by Framing teachers for school closings
• Work schedules, family schedules, or any other organizational document you used to organize your daily life
• Non-digital, handwritten journals or journal entries
• Other physical mementos of your or your family’s personal experiences in quarantine

Please consider holding on to some of these items to submit to the FHC’s Collections in the future. We would advise cleaning or sterilizing the item as appropriate and placing it, with clean hands, in a plastic ziploc gallon bag and putting it aside somewhere safe where it will not be frequently handled.