Documenting the Impact of the Virus and Quarantine
The Union Public Library and the Union Township Historical Society request the input of Union residents and those who work in Union to document the impact of COVID-19 and the resulting quarantine.
Participants are asked to share in 1500 words or less (and/or include a captioned photo) their personal experiences in response to one or more of these questions:
- When COVID-19 was first diagnosed in our country, were you alarmed, or were you relatively confident that we could contain it?
- What changes in people’s behavior have you observed because of their concerns over the virus?
- What’s surprised you most as the quarantine unfolded?
- What’s been an unexpected, positive impact of the quarantine?
- What’s been the most difficult part of the quarantine for your?
- What are your hopes for the future when it’s all over?
Every submission* must be accompanied by respondent’s first and last names, age, and any other optional information, such as occupation, school/grade, etc. Submission should be sent as an attachment via email to COVID19NOTES@uplnj.org or via USPS to: Union Public Library, Attention: COVID19 Notes, 1980 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ 07083.
The UPL and the UTHS will create an archive to be used for historical research by students, authors, and documentary-makers in the future. It will contain Unionites’ thoughts and feelings in a historical record of life in the community in spring 2020; it will detail what is happening and how people of all ages are reacting,
Members of the UTHS will curate the responses for ease of access by future historians.
Topics may include: Challenges for Health Providers, Children’s View of the Quarantine, Perspective of Those Who Became Unemployed, Considerations of Retirees. The UTHS will put the collected texts and images into context, which will require perspective that comes with the passage of time; therefore, this is envisioned as an on-going project. There will be follow-up with some of the respondents to request video interviews to be preserved as oral history. It is hoped that a compilation of the responses will be published in a book, as well.
The project will include a follow-up several months post-quarantine, and the collection will be made available to the public soon after.
* Only send this work if in agreement that the Union Public Library and the Union Township Historical Society have permission to share the words and pictures with the public as part of the historical record and no benefit, financial or otherwise, is given or implied for the submitted material.
