Documenting COVID-19
The Wake Forest Historical Museum is building an archive that captures how our community is experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. We are collecting donations of artifacts, essays, photographs, and recordings that document how the pandemic has affected Wake Forest residents.
We are interested in items that document your experiences learning remotely, working at home or on the frontlines, social distancing, staying in touch with friends and family, self-quarantining, or dealing with illness. How has your life changed amidst this crisis? How are you adapting to changes at work and home?
We want to better understand and preserve the experiences of our whole community, including healthcare workers, caregivers, grocery and food service workers, community leaders, small business owners, educators, parents, students, engineers, technology specialists, retail and warehouse employees, utility workers, delivery and transportation drivers, researchers, writers, and artists.
Please consider submitting items that document your daily life during this time:
- Artifacts and objects
- Signs or artwork
- Audio recordings
- Journal entries (written, audio, or video)
- Blog posts
- Photographs of home or work spaces or other community scenes
- Captures of classroom work, school schedules, or daily routines
- Poetry
- Screenshots of your social media posts
- Stories and oral histories
These materials will help future researchers understand how our community responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please continue to comply with all county and state stay-at-home orders when documenting your experiences.
How to Submit Materials
Please use the submission form to submit items. You may only submit 5 items with the submission form, but you can submit more than one form. You will sign an agreement allowing the Wake Forest Historical Museum to preserve and share your content.
Please submit items in standard formats, such as word, pdf, tiff, jpeg, mp3, mp4, wav, mov, or m4a.
Please only submit items you have created. If you are submitting an interview with another person, we need their permission to preserve and share the document or recording. Please have any co-creators complete a submission form, although they do not need to attach the files again.
Please email Anissa Harry, Collections Specialist, at harryak@wfu.edu with any questions or comments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can submit materials?
We are seeking materials from residents of the Town of Wake Forest and surrounding communities. You must be at least 18 years to complete the submission form. Parents or legal guardians must approve and submit materials created by their minor children.
Where can I get help completing the submission form?
Please email Anissa Harry at harryak@wfu.edu.
How will the museum use the items I submit? When will materials be available for viewing?
The museum preserves artifacts for research, teaching, and exhibition. It will take time for our small staff to process submissions, so materials will not be available immediately. In the meantime, we may share documents on our website and social media.
What if I am not comfortable submitting items?
Each member of our community is experiencing the pandemic differently. If you are not ready or comfortable sharing your experiences, we understand your decision and respect your privacy.
Why does the submission form ask me about “co-creators?”
We need to make sure you have the right to donate materials. If you submit a self-recorded video, an essay you wrote, or a painting you made you own that item and can donate it to the museum. However, if you interviewed someone in your household or virtually, we need their permission to archive and share the recording. If more than one person created an item, every person needs to complete a submission form, but only one person needs to attach files through the form.
Please respect others’ privacy when documenting your experiences. If in doubt, ask permission before submitting an item that includes information about others.
Why does the submission form include a Personal Health Information Agreement?
The materials you submit may include information about your personal health, and we need permission to archive and share this information. We also need to confirm that you have not submitted materials that disclose personal information about others.
How long do I have to submit items?
This project is ongoing and we currently do not have a deadline for submitting items.
How can I donate non-digital materials?
Consider waiting to donate items in-person when the museum reopens. If you wish to mail items, please complete and print the submission form below. We will acknowledge mailed submissions when we reopen.
Wake Forest Historical Museum
Executive Director, Ed Morris
P.O. Box 494
Wake Forest, NC 27588
If you would like to discuss the best option for donating materials, please email Anissa Harry at harryak@wfu.edu
This project has been modeled off of the efforts of ZSR Special Collections and Archives at Wake Forest University, J. Murrey Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte, and Harvard University Archives.