Items

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  2020

  How the Internet Saved My Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic

  Prior to the first major COVID-19 breakout in the US, I was already doing online school. I had some health problems that led me to take my senior year of high school online; this was already a little hard, as my school had many senior year traditions that I, unfortunately, missed out on, so my general motivation was already pretty low. The main thing that really helped was being able to hang out with friends in person and talk to people using social media. I remember very vividly when COVID-19 first hit. It was sometime in March; I remember it so vividly due to a joke that my friends and I made. Senior skip day happened right when the news about the virus started to spread everywhere - my friends and I started joking about whether or not they skipped the last day of high school they would ever attend. This joke eventually came to fruition; first, it was a two-week "vacation." Then it was a month. Eventually, the rest of the year was called off, and my friends joined me in the ventures of online schooling. The beginning of quarantine was relatively easy from a mental health standpoint. We were too busy being excited over the "vacation" we were given, and all the time we had to play video games with each other. This excitement soon began to fade, however, mainly when the weather began to get warm again (I live in Massachusetts) and the seasons started to change. The feeling of being trapped inside during the only time of year truly worth being outside for is pretty suffocating. It is no surprise that my mental health started to suffer, mainly in the form of motivation issues and increased anxiety, and depression that was normally seasonal began to manifest itself in the only season it usually didn't. If not for the internet connecting my friends and me, I would have had a much harder time throughout quarantine in general. Despite my mental health being worse than usual, it was not nearly as bad as it could have been given the circumstances. The horrible statistics and lack of hope for a vaccine that clouded my thoughts when not distracted disappeared while I was in my own world talking to friends through a computer screen - escapism was my main source of comfort, and I have the internet and my friends to thank for that. Eventually, the feeling of hopelessness went away. Vaccines started to be distributed, and life returned to (slightly) normal. We got used to wearing masks in public, and avoiding crowded areas, but this was a small price to pay considering how bad it was before.
• 2020-03-13

  Pandemic's Struggles and Benefits

  I was a college senior at Boston College from 2019-2020. I remember having a job opportunity lined up, an apartment lined up, and the rest of my school year lined up as well. Upon return from spring break, we were all told to go home and that we had 3 days to gather our things and say goodbye... Upon losing my job, my friends, and my school, I did not know what to do, especially with a deadly virus in the air. Out of this journey, though, I applied to grad school and ended up achieving my dreams of getting a Master's in History. So, the pandemic had its struggles but it also had its benefits and I am a prime example.
• 
  2021-04-19

  Three Sisters' Patriots Day Parade, Concord, MA

  Three sisters raised in Concord, MA take up the American flag, fife, and drum and march up to Old North Bridge and subsequently through Concord Center to commemorate Patriots Day in Concord, MA, one of the battle sites in the Battle of Lexington and Concord that sparked the American Revolution. Due to COVID-19, the famed Patriots Day Parade in Concord has been cancelled in both 2020 and 2021, and the Concord Minutemen--mainstays for the parade's performers--have been unable to play for the holiday. These three sisters, during both 2020 and 2021, took initiative to keep the long-standing tradition alive for the town and others who are typically attracted to Concord on this historical day. One of the sisters, the fifer, is a member of the Concord Minutemen.
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  2021-09-17

  Sabrina Sakata and Emily Fink Oral History, 2021/09/17

  This audio interview shows how my friend, Emily Fink, and I have experienced the pandemic and how it has affected us.
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  2021-04-11

  EMT psychomotor exam regulations

  At the start of the pandemic, the state of Massachusetts Department of Public Health shut down EMT psychomotor exams which meant that we could not certify new EMTs for several months. This is a terrible thing for an industry that was already having staffing problems before the pandemic began. Then in the summer, the state began to allow us to hold the exams again but under significant restrictions. We had to limit our exams to 8 students which meant that we were forced to hold several small exams instead on one larger one (a logistical nightmare). The students had to do the exam in full PPE with constant hand-washing and sanitation requirements. This past week, the state sent out new provisions regarding psychomotor exams. Thankfully, now we can hold larger exams again. Many of the other regulations are still in place, but the fact that we can have all of our students test at the same time makes things so much easier.
• 
  2020-08-13

  Fires With Family

  With social distancing measures out in place when having gatherings, it is difficult to spend time with family and friends. During the pandemic, my distant family members and I decided to light a fire in the firepit located in my backyard with 6 feet in between us. We talked about what each of us have been doing during quarantine and ate delicious food made by others. This fire pit was used multiple times during the pandemic but for the same reasons. The only downfall of using this firepit for visits is that it can only be used in the warmer weather. I feel as though this photo is a necessity for a covid-19 collection. It shows what families go through to be near each other in this part of the country/world.
• 
  2020-12-03

  Massachusetts Contact Tracing Log

  At the restaurant that I work at, the host plays a larger role than just taking people to their tables. There is a designated “sanitation specialist” that clears the tables and wipes down the tables with peroxide and another liquid so that we can seat guests in an orderly manner. There is also the job of the main host to take down people’s phone numbers in case a coworker reports having COVID symptoms so that those in the restaurant can get tested for the virus. This connects to the civic purpose of history as this was one of the new contributions to the people in order to keep them, hopefully, safe from the pandemic and a need to reform how we think about our information in public spheres. I think that this item is something that “ helps illustrate something particularly significant about the year 2020”. This is through the tracking log as we’ve often seen people protest the government having our information as seen with the microchip scare with the vaccine, but this has become something of a norm at work. Every so often, there is that person that will give me a fake number or protest their information being leaked because “they will call us”, our only defense is that we get rid of the paper after a month before getting our manager. The blurb at the top does a better job at explaining than I do.
• 
  2020-04-06

  Hospital COVID-19 Visitors Rule

  This call was informing her a month before her due date that she was NOT allowed, visitors. This was one of the many different calls that caused a nerve-racking feeling. We had been in quarantine for about three weeks and it was determined that she had to go through this all alone. This call was very important because it is something you never want to be taken away from you. Sharing moments like these with your family are very valuable and in a very tough situation, you need a support system. Her spouse was not allowed either. The last month of her pregnancy she had to face alone up until the moment she was in the labor delivery room. At this point, she feared she wouldn’t be allowed to have anybody in the room with her. Luckily, Massachusetts laws allowed her to have at least one.
• 
  2020-10-31

  Trick-or-Treating During the COVID-19 Pandemic

  For this year's Halloween, my mother wanted to hand out candy in a safe, fun way for the trick or treaters to enjoy. She found a way to maintain the appropriate 6-foot distance by utilizing a long PVC pipe as a chute to send the candy shooting down to the trick-or-treaters below on our front porch steps. This picture exemplifies the measures people have done to maintain normality amidst this devastating crisis and I believe it captures the common effort to minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19 while still engaging in fun activities.
• 
  2020-10-28

  Additional Quarantine Laws for Massachusetts and Connecticut

  I submitted this link because it gives a lot of insight as to why quarantining is so important during a global pandemic, especially after traveling far distances and remaining in said location for over 24 hours. Traveling is something many of us are missing during this tough time, but this article informs me that we now have to take many precautions before proceeding to do so. We have to keep in mind how many people we have been exposed to, who they have been exposed to, wearing masks in every public place, etc. It’s crazy to think that this is our world now, as I think most of us never saw this coming as a long-term thing. These laws are important because they should persuade people to make decisions that will help flatten the curve, even if they have only traveled from one small state to another. Anything counts.
• 
  2020-04-20

  Grocery Shopping During a Pandemic

  When COVID-19 became classified as a pandemic the United States started to shut down. As a result, grocery stores experienced long lines and shortages. Toilet paper, bathroom essentials, and cleaning supplies quickly sold out and became a difficult commodity to purchase. These shortages went on for months. The importance of this is to demonstrate how unprepared humanity is for an event like COVID-19. Seeing these pictures and experiencing the long lines and shortages for myself made me realize how dependant I am on the grocery store. This experience gave me a sense of awareness. I became aware of how easy it was for me to go to the local grocery store and get what I needed before COVID-19; additionally, I became aware of how quickly that can change.
• 
  2020-03-22

  Family Photo

  This photo is important to me because it shows how having to be at home forced me to communicate with my loved ones in different ways. I think the photo also represents a strengthened relationship between my boyfriend and I and my sister and I, and how the three of us became friends.
• 
  2020-07-17

  Post on Covid-19 and Interactives

  From Emma Rocha, Curatorial Assistant at the New Bedford Whaling Museum: "I’m currently taking Introduction to Museum Studies at Harvard Extension School as the first of two classes I need to take before I can apply to their museum studies graduate program. I chose this program because it is almost entirely online and I can take one class a semester which enables me to keep working full time – I wouldn’t be able to pay for the classes otherwise. I am very lucky that I chose an online program because it has not been disrupted by Covid-19. One of my closest friends recently got accepted into law school (I’m so proud of her!) and she is still waiting to find out if she will be starting fall semester on campus or online, which is quite stressful for her. The class I am taking has a few participation elements, which are attending and participating in the optional online sections via Zoom (optional because they know some students are in different time zones) and posting on the classes social media platform, called YellowDig. I posted this on YellowDig because it fits in with the variety of posts we can make: comments or questions on readings, articles about happenings in the museum field, and thoughts on museums we work at or have visited. I really enjoy reading what my classmates are thinking about, because they have so many varied perspectives on museums and it is all fascinating!"
• 
  2020-07-09

  Jon Mitchell Tweets about arts and culture institutions reopening

  Mayor Jon Mitchell of New Bedford joins arts and culture institutions from across New Bedford at the New Bedford Whaling Museum to announce that museums, arts and culture organizations will reopen on July 9 as part of Phase 3.
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  2020-06-30

  WBUR Town Hall: The Post Pandemic Society

  What will the post-pandemic world look like? Will many of us never return to the office to work? Will our children be in classrooms with only ten other students some days and learning from home the others? Will restaurants be able to survive with half the tables and no bars? Will our athletes play and our musicians perform in front of empty seats? Will we be a kinder, more equitable and less polluted society? Radio Boston host Tiziana Dearing leads the conversation with Dr. Helen Boucher, chief of the Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Tufts Medical Center; Dr. Lynn Perry Wooten, president of Simmons College; and Matthew Teitelbaum, Ann and Graham Gund director of the Museum of Fine Arts.
• 
  2020-07-08

  Massachusetts Art Museums Are Reopening

  News article published by WBUR in Boston that discusses the reopening plans of several art museums in the Greater Boston-area and the rest of Massachusetts. The article goes into detail about the opening plans of the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum, and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. As museums move away from closures, institutions are trying to spread knowledge of their openings as well as the safety procedures they're employing. As the pandemic continues, safe museums offer an escape from time spent indoors if one has the privilege of doing so.
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  2020-03-13

  New Bedford Whaling Museum Announces Closure in Response to Coronavirus Concern

  The New Bedford Whaling Museum announces closure due to COVID19 pandemic.
• 
  2020-06-30

  Welcome Back!

  The New Bedford Whaling Museum announces reopening for summer 2020, during the the COVID19 pandemic. The announcement shares details about new hours, opening dates, museum rules, online ticketing and timed admissions, and what visitors should expect during their visit.
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  2020-07-08

  HMSC Connects

  Harvard Museums of Science and Culture offers HMSC Connects, programming built to "acknowledge the trauma of the times." The programming includes virtual programming, a podcast, online resources, coloring pages, and family activities.
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  2020-06-12

  Racism and coronavirus add stress to already vulnerable communities

  This is the third episode of the Boston Children's Museum's podcast, Big & Little, a podcast for adults about kids and families. "In this episode, Carole [Charnow} talks with Manny Lopes, the CEO of the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center and a leader in community health care, about the ways in which Boston's vulnerable communities are coping during this challenging time and how today's uncertainty offers room for positive change to come."
• 2020-07-08

  Museum Reopening Updates

  Boston Children's Museum has posted updates regarding reopening in July 2020. Their June 24, 2020 announcement discusses BCM's commitment to their community and the safety measures BCM will be taking. "As we begin summer, I wanted to bring you up to date with our work to re-open the Museum. But first, I wanted to acknowledge your patience and support over the last three months. As parents and caregivers of young children, you have no doubt been challenged with schools and day care services being closed, work and employment disruptions, navigating through health challenges, and most recently the social upheaval in our country resulting from the death of George Floyd. More than ever, our children need our love and support. Their routines, friendships, and opportunities for play and learning have all been upended. It has been a trying time, with much anxiety and uncertainty testing us all."
• 
  2020-05-19

  Letter from the Boston College President

  After the closures of colleges across the country, Boston College remained open in a diminished capacity to provide housing and refuge for students unable to return home to shelter in place. In this email, President of the School Father Leahy outlines the steps taken to ensure safety. He also speaks towards the future Fall 2020 semester and how Boston College can best ensure a safe climate atmosphere.
• 2020-06-01

  Right to Assemble during Covid-19

  This photo was taken during a march against police brutality, in which everyone had to wear masks and social distance in "pods" while marching