Item Description: In a five-page, printed journal entry mailed to History Colorado staff, Terri Kulas of Lakewood, CO shares her impressions of the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic experience. There are five journal entries made between March 17, 2020 and May 6, 2020. Kulas is a semi-retired nurse and shares her thoughts on the state of the healthcare system; Stay-At-Home and Safer At Home orders; not being able to socialize in person; and compares this time to living in a Stephen King novel. A cover page dated June 6, 2020 reflects on the pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests and civil rights movement in the 1960s.
Project Description:
History Colorado launched the COVID-19 collecting project on March 25, 2020 in conjunction with the Colorado Media Project, an organization of 40 media groups across Colorado tasked with spreading word of the initiative. Branded under the title "History in the Making," the focus of the project was to begin documenting Coloradans' stories about the novel Coronavirus and its effect on their lives. Staff involved with the project concluded that collecting in real time as the novel Coronavirus spread was an efficient, proactive, and inclusive way to document the crisis, and to ensure that both contemporary and future generations could appreciate the stories of those who experienced it first hand. Items considered for collecting included surveys, journals, audio recordings, photographs, videos, and other artifacts related to the pandemic to preserve and make available to the public. The general public was asked to contribute material directly to History Colorado and to share their stories through email, online surveys, journal submissions, and (socially distanced) community activities . Extensive efforts were also made by staff to reach out to communities throughout Colorado, including school groups, cultural organizations, and geographic regions across the state. Collecting for the COVID-19 project is ongoing as of May 2020.