Items

• 
  2021-04-18

  The Beginning of the End!? Corona Culture Spring 2021

  These items are a sampling of documents and links to news articles and public event dates that chronicle the reopening of some parts of the United States in spring 2021. One year after the start of the pandemic (the anniversary itself celebrated in various media), Texas and other parts of the U.S. were trying to return their businesses and services to more normal conditions. A community college's plan for reopening its main campus, a news article about a baseball park increasing its capacity (and having a sold out game), a listing of 2021 tour dates for popular musicians, and a town's decision to end its mask mandate all tell the story of people wanting to return to normal living. However, both government leaders and ordinary people could disagree about whether it was good to relax COVID restrictions as the announcement by a local mayor and the decision of a local school board suggests. These items reflect the challenges of returning to Pre-COVID lifestyles because not everyone was united in the belief that it was safe to live normal lives. This illustrates the interesting conflict between holding on to what makes people be or feels safe and those who believe such restrictions are unnecessary now.
• 
  2021-04-09

  San Antonio Service Workers Receive Vaccines

  Heard, a local organization in San Antonio, Texas, set up a COVID-19 vaccine clinic specifically for service industry workers. This is absolutely essential, as Texas has opened restaurants to full capacity, putting servers at an extreme risk of exposure. While spaces for the April 15th clinic were limited, by only allowing service industry employees to reserve a vaccine, they allowed individuals to protect themselves sooner by getting vaccinated.
• 
  2021-04-17

  Corona Culture Products #2 UV Light Sanitizing Box

  This is a photograph of a UV light box for sanitizing items that may have been infected with COVID. This professional and stylish looking box was a long time coming. In late spring 2020, as summer was approaching, the CDC and leading doctors announced that the UV rays in sunlight killed the Coronavirus on surfaces within minutes. This led people to hang their masks in their car windows, and leave things outside to sanitize them. It was also believed to be safer to be outside on a sunny summer day because the sunlight would kill the COVID virus in the air and on objects. This primitive method is not available all the time and cannot be taken inside though, so companies created various products that produced UV light that were portable and could be used inside. While a late bloomer to the UV trend, this is a perfect example of the use of UV light against COVID. As you can see from the descriptive packaging, any small items, especially phones, can be put into the box, and after 10 minutes will be sanitized. Great care was taken to point out its effectiveness as seen in the "kills 99.9% of germs" and "laboratory proven technology" statements on the front of the package. Of course, it's not just useful but is discreet and stylish as it looks like a purse or a make-up bag. This item is important because it shows the lengths people went to try and keep their things clean. It also shows the power of fads during Corona. Everyone jumped at the chance to try UV light when it was first announced, yet it decreased in importance for most people after summer 2020. Like all the Corona Culture products, it reveals the depth to which Corona became imbedded into the U.S.'s consciousness.
• 
  2021-01-21

  Corona Culture Products

  These pictures are a collection of Corona themed products from summer 2020 to January 2021. As you can see, there was a great variety of products and some of the most unusual appeared starting 2021. Of particular note is the coffee mug and a small wall plaque. Even the infant phrases "Social distancing" and "Healthcare worker" had crept into daily items in real stores. By fall, masks were being advertised in stores on long plastic hangers and had become just as common on random aisles as dish gloves, scrubber pads, and dryer balls. By January 2021, companies had begun to get creative with masks and shields. The final picture shows a set of children's face shields encased with the features of animal heads. This was likely to appeal to children who like to pretend to be animals. One company also began to make masks in small, medium, large, and extra large, to accommodate the variety of face shapes among the public (not pictured). The most important thing about all these products is that they show how deeply embedded Corona had become in United States culture despite the fact that it was not even a year since the virus appeared in the U.S. This indicates that companies were actively involved in both creating and maintaining a COVID consumer culture that tied what people experienced to what they could buy. Although more difficult to determine, it also shows a demand for such items both out of necessity (masks) and for leisure or fun (mug, animal shields). These items also reveal that COVID-19 was a highly unique event in that it was so marketable. No other event in the 21st century generated as much cultural/societal presence as Corona. These products should be further studied to see what better understanding about Corona can be gained from them.
• 
  2020-05-28

  One Way Only Signs in Texas Stores

  These are pictures of one-way-only signs posted in a Texas Walmart on May 28th and June 11 2020. Many stores such as HEB, Target, and Sam's Club also had similar signs in there stores. The purpose of these signs was to encourage the public to walk in only one direction on each aisle of the store. Stores created an elaborate zig zag pattern using this method. At the time, it was thought that the risk of contracting COVID could be minimized by keeping people from congregating in the same space such as going in and out of the same aisle entrance. Some peopled followed the signs, but it was not a state law so others did not. These photos are important because they show the great extent stores took to try and minimize the spread of COVID. Stores were very concerned about projecting the image of a safe shopping experience in their stores. However, they also hint at the legalistic bent many COVID precautions were beginning to take on. Another implied effect of this arrangement was that by encouraging all people to go in the same direction, stores increased the risk that their customers might catch COVID-19 as everyone was to follow the exact path the person in front of them had. This was the type of situation these signs were supposed to prevent.
• 
  2021-04-03

  Presley McBride Oral History About Corona Culture Conducted by Kayla Nicole Phillips

  This is an interview with Presley McBride about how Corona Culture has affected her personal life and United States Society. Presley first describes any pandemic-related purchases or activities she has participated in and also highlights how her favorite Youtube personalities have incorporated COVID crafts into their shows. She also includes reflections on the impact of plexiglass shields and sanitization on human interaction and socialization. Presley also touches upon the political divide caused by a sense of shame that people in society feel when they are pressured to get vaccinated or wear a mask. Presley includes a description of how businesses have been using more packaging to protect their products since the start of the pandemic. Finally, Presley shares her insights on the negative effects of the stay-at-home mentality on U.S. mental health and culture. Contributed by Kayla Phillips, URE, for Arizona State University for the #CoronaCulture, #HST494, #ASU, #Texas #OralHistories collections.
• 
  2021-03-31

  Anonymous Oral History About Corona Culture Conducted by Kayla Nicole Phillips

  This is an interview with an anonymous narrator about how Corona Culture has affected the narrator's personal life and United States Society. The narrator first describes any pandemic-related purchases or activities he/she has participated in and also highlights how his/her favorite Youtube personality has dealt with COVID on her show. The narrator also shares his/her perspective about COVID themed items that have appeared in U.S. consumer culture over the past few months and includes his/her assessment of Dr. Fauci and his work. The narrator includes a reflection on the impact of plexiglass shields and sanitization on human interaction and socialization. The narrator also emphasizes the potentially harmful effects of strong chemicals used to produce the various kinds of sanitizers used to disinfect surfaces in public. The narrator touches upon the sense of shame that people in society feel when they are pressured to get vaccinated or wear a mask and elaborates on how Corona vocabulary has affected U.S. social mores. Finally, the narrator shares his/her opinion about the effects of the stay-at-home mentality on U.S. culture. Contributed by Kayla Phillips, URE, for Arizona State University for the #CoronaCulture, #HST494, #ASU, #Texas #OralHistories collections.
• 
  2021-03-10

  At Home COVID Easter Egg Hunt Supplies from the City of Pflugerville Texas

  This photograph shows an advertisement from the City of Pflugerville in the State of Texas. It announces that in lieu of its annual Easter Egg Hunt, the City of Pflugerville is offering families $5 at home egg hunt kits containing 20 eggs prefilled with "candy and toys" for children. Although this advertisement is for the 2021 Easter season, one year after COVID became a problem in the United States, many cities, towns, business, individuals, and other groups still wished to avoid in-person gatherings because they believed doing so would prevent additional hospitalizations and deaths (despite precautions such as masks, social distancing, and increased vaccinations). The advertisement communicates the sense of "cautious caution", in other words hesitation and apprehension, that many people still have about large gatherings, yet it also shows the strong desire to continue age-old traditions. This is also an excellent example of modifying public activities and events for at home enjoyment and performance. This became a mainstay during the spring and summer 2020 lockdowns and continued, for the most part, throughout spring 2021.
• 
  2021-03-02

  A Song in Honor of the End of the Texas Mask Mandate

  These lyrics were composed by an anonymous individual to celebrate Governor Gregg Abbott's March 2 2021 announcement that he was ending the Texas state-wide mask mandate on March 10th. The person who created this song composed it in a state of happy exhilaration and surprise. The song communicates a couple of things about people who do not like wearing masks everywhere they go when they are outside their homes. First, it captures a deep sense of longing to return to prior days when people did not wear masks and the comforting sense of normalcy that experience will bring again to the individual. Secondly, the last two verses express vigilant expectation and a sense of celebration for a day that the person was not sure would ever come again. The song as a whole is meant to be a positive statement of hope and a celebratory goodbye to a long-distained, yet new, custom.
• 
  2021-03-22

  Some Mexicans Find They Can Get COVID-19 Vaccines In The U.S.

  In Mexico, receiving the COVID-19 vaccine is difficult. This has led to some Mexicans going to the United States COVID-19 vaccine. However, those that do this usually have money and/or connections. In some cases, the areas these people go to for vaccines are struggling to receive vaccines, such as the counties near the Texas-Mexico border.
• 
  2020-09-24

  Corona Clothing #3: "We're All in This Together"

  This is yet another example of Corona themed clothing from a Ross in Round Rock TX. This shirt boasts the popular phrase "We're all in this together" which was a widespread "rallying cry" so to speak for people to unite in weathering the COVID-19 pandemic. The shirt shows smiley faces surrounding the phrase. The shirt is intended to comfort people by letting them know their are not alone while they experience the changes COVID has caused in around the world. The phrase also serves to motivate people to be strong and focus on willingly bearing the changes that need to be borne to defeat the virus.
• 
  2020-09-18

  Corona Clothing #1: "Staying in is the new Going Out"

  I took this picture in a Ross store in Round Rock TX last summer. It reads "Staying in is the new Going Out". This is the first instance I had ever seen of a clothing item referencing COVID-19. The shirt implies that with all the stay at home orders, lockdowns, and closures taking leisure time at home is the new way to have fun and enjoy yourself. Noticed that it is also lounge wear. I did not realize it at the time, but many items of Corona themed clothing are casual or lounge wear likely both as a funny gesture and to suit the natural desire to wear comfortable clothing when confined at home for extended periods.
• 2021-03-18

  Moving During a Plague Year

  2020 began as an optimistic year. In January, I decided to apply to the Public History MA program at the University of Colorado, Denver. We were living in Amarillo, Texas, and dreaming of a home that allowed us to thrive in our chosen fields, something that was unlikely in our hometown. So in early March of 2020, we decided to make the out-of-state move to Denver, Colorado. I had not yet been accepted to a grad program, and my husband did not have a job in our new city. "We'll figure it out." That's typically how it goes for two easy-going free spirits: set the destination and let the journey figure itself out. We looked forward to our April 4th move date as the reality of the Pandemic slowly set in. I was thankful for my workplace shutting down because it gave me plenty of time to pack up the house with a blissful ignorance for the year to come. I packed, taped, and organized dozens of cardboard boxes while dreaming about my sunny balcony in Denver. I planned going away parties and meticulously arranged coffee meet-ups with my closest friends. Against my best efforts, the in-person experiences faded away as the isolation began to set in. "No worries," I thought, "this will only last a couple of weeks." Oh, how wrong I was. I'm typing this story on March 18, 2021, for an assignment that was given online after a lecture that was presented online. A year later and my life continues virtually. We moved with hope for our future. We weren't hoping that the future involved facing our deepest emotional issues or learning how to love each other in complete isolation. It certainly did not contain a life of unemployment and disappointment. Slowly, begrudgingly, we got to know ourselves and began to heal from years of emotional suppression. I was diagnosed with ADHD for the first time in my life. It changed everything, and I owe my current success to the therapist that offered a discounted rate in my time of need. My husband learned just how deep his depression went. But most importantly, we learned that we could do it, that we can hold on long enough to see the light at the end. My husband just accepted an incredible job, and my academic life is flourishing. Even as I grew increasingly annoyed at the idea of a "bright side," the bright side came and lit up just how far we've come as people and as a couple.
• 
  2021-02-22

  Cruz's Trip to Mexico: A Meme

  In February, as Texas faced a dangerous winter storm as well as the continuing pandemic, Ted Cruz left the state to hang out at a resort in Mexico. Much has already been said of this by political commentators, so I will simply contribute the best meme I saw about the event. This format saw some use, all of which questioned the intelligence of Cruz in one way or another.
• 
  2021-03-06

  My favorite food! The Texas and Arizona connection

  Traveling during the COVID-19 has become increasingly difficult due to restrictions, precautionary safety measures, and social isolation. I am a Texas native who is currently residing in Phoenix, Arizona. Sadly, It has been well over 2 years since I have been back home to visit, but my Aunt -who has been vaccinated- periodically decides to make a trip to Phoenix. Every time she visits she is kind enough to bring along frozen portions from my favorite restaurant- Chicos Tacos. Sharing a meal with my Aunt and relatives is a special memory I will treasure despite this incredibly difficult time.
• 
  2021-03-03

  Texas reopens 100%

  From Kron4 News: “It’s time to reopen Texas 100%.” Texas is lifting its mask mandate and will also do away with limits on the number of diners that businesses can serve indoors. What do you think? Should California do the same?
• 
  2021-03-06

  The Unsung Spreader: Touch and Coronavirus

  This story tells about a overlooked aspect of the pandemic. It offers some background into why this person thinks this issue is important and uses eyewitness and second hand accounts as evidence for her position
• 
  2021-03-06

  Stepping into a New World: Embarking on the COVID Journey

  This story relates how Corona began for me. It is a valuable primary source covering a person's lived experience with how Corona began and covers a unique circumstance.
• 
  2021-02-21

  Mini Oral History with Isabel Peralta, 02/21/2021

  I recorded a mini oral history with my Tia (aunt) about silver linings.
• 
  2021-02-04

  US Rep. Yvette Harrell seeks to spare NM from Biden's ban on oil and gas leases

  This article from Carlsbad Current Argus reporter Adrian Hedden explains NM District 2 Congressional Representative Harrell's efforts to preserve the oil-and-gas driven economy in New Mexico. The oil and gas lease referenced here applies to federal lands, and the ban of new lease issuance impacts existing operations. Much of southeastern New Mexico is federally owned, while nearby Texas is predominantly private land. The effect of this ban, if successful, would merely drive operations a few miles across the state line without largely impacting production from within the Permian Basin; it will, however, destroy the New Mexico economy, approximately 40% of which depends on oil and gas operations within the state. This article and topic are important to me because of my familial ties to New Mexico, but also because it demonstrates the unintended and myopic objectives set forth in this particular executive order. The economic impact of this ban would further exacerbate community and statewide problems related to COVID-19 as homeless has recently spiked in that region, and the disappearing tax base has further inhibited county and state programs and operations.
• 
  2020-10-30

  Race and social justice in the 2020 presidential election

  In the interview, Rashawn Ray discussing race and voter suppression. He discusses the history of voter suppression and how it can be used against various communities of color and how it is being used today. He also discusses the many ways this practice affects communities and our country as a whole.
• 
  2020-04-03

  The Game of COVID Life

  During the quarantine, my wife and I were having a hard time trying to adjust to our jobs being remote. We were not used to staring at computer screens for 8+ hours. The feeling of stress was overwhelming. I’m sure everyone in the world can relate to this experience. We really needed something to raise our spirits after time passed by and the world was still shut down. When my wife and I first got married in 2019, we had a problem of spending money on board games of all kinds. We ended up with a collection of 47 board games by the time COVID started (we began our marriage with about 12 board games). The thing is, with our jobs (my wife being a Public Library Administrator and I being a teacher and coach), we hardly had time to play some except a few. Who would have thought that we were unknowingly preparing for a quarantine. Our collection helped us escape reality for a bit each time we played. Game nights became a regular occurrence and we still hold them to this day. We were able to connect more as a couple and strengthen our relationship. The sounds of dice being rolled, cards being shuffled, and game pieces being moved remind me how board games helped us cope with the unexpected changes in our lives and recharge our batteries to keep going forward.
• 
  2020-11-18

  Staying Safe In Restaurants And Bars

  As bars and restaurants continue day to day operations all over the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers consideration on their website in ways they can reduce the risk for employees, customers and the community. These establishments will collaborate with their state and local health officials on how to implement these considerations. When considering these ideas they are meant to supplement and not replace any state or local health and safety laws. The longer people interact with one another the higher risk of spreading covid-19. One key take away from the article that stuck out to me was the spacing that the CDC recommends and that I see mostly in restaurants and bars today. Capacity has been reduced and tables have been moved six feet apart to slow the spread.
• 
  2020-10-25

  Trapped at the Border: Asylum seekers protest Matamoros camp conditions

  On October 25, 2020, over fifty of 1000+ people in the Matamoros Border Camp gathered along the barbed-wire fence to protest their living conditions. The Migrant Protection Protocols (M.P.P.), a Trump Executive Order, requires many Spanish-speaking asylum seekers to stay in Northern Mexico until granted a court date. In March 2020, the administration sealed U.S. borders and closed immigration courts as part of the COVID-19 emergency response. Many asylum seekers trapped in the camps may never get a full hearing. Although protests could provoke retaliation from Mexican and U.S. immigration officials, these families demonstrated because they felt desperate. As in much of the southern border, cartels plague the Brownsville-Matamoros region. Many South and Central American migrants have experienced kidnapping, theft, extortion, and rape on their journeys through Mexico. In the camps, bounded by a fifteen-foot fence and heavily armed security forces, they face daily threats from poisonous snakes, hurricanes, flooding, and unsanitary conditions. Because the Mexican government does not give camp occupants sufficient resources, nonprofit organizations like Catholic Charities and Team Brownsville provide food, water, and medical care. On the day of the protest, two U.S. citizens from a Methodist ministry stood with demonstrators inside the camp. The asylum seeker who organized this demonstration sent her two daughters (ages 9 and 11) across the Rio Grande, accompanied only by a cartel-affiliated coyote (guide), to turn themselves into Customs and Border Protection (CBP). While she misses her daughters every day, she believes that separation is safer for them than remaining in Mexico or returning to Honduras. She trusts that God will protect everyone in the Matamoros camp because their cause is just. After the protest, I held her hand through the gate’s wire diamonds and promised to pray. Some protesters held signs with Bible verses like Matthew 25:35-40, while others called for the protection of LGBTQ+ migrants and an end to MPP. Many protesters addressed the U.S. presidential election. Voten inteligentemente, one sign reads – vote intelligently. Joe Biden promised that, if elected, he would repeal M.P.P. within the first hundred days of his presidency. Asylum seekers realize that without a leadership change, they have very little chance of entering the U.S. I witnessed this reality while I stood in an hour-long customs line, waiting to cross the International Bridge back into Brownsville. The line held a mix of Mexican and U.S. citizens, including a family carrying spider-shaped piñatas and orange-frosted cupcakes for a Halloween party. A group of two adults and three children passed me in line. I watched them approach CBP officers, a journalist following close behind. Five minutes later, a security officer was escorting the family back to Matamoros. The journalist noticed me watching and stopped to explain: “They asked for asylum, but CBP said no. They have to wait in Mexico.” “No somos malas personas. Solo queremos vivir.” The mother repeated this phrase like a mantra as she passed us, holding her six-year-old daughter’s hand. We are not bad people. We just want to live. *This is a photograph that I took on my cell phone outside the Matamoros, Mexico border camp on Sunday, October 25, 2020. Faces are blurred to protect their privacy.
• 
  2020-07-31

  ‘It’s hell living there’: Texas inmates say they are battling COVID-19 in prisons with no A/C

  Conditions in Texas prisons notoriously unhealthy, these inmates face inhumane living conditions during a pandemic.
• 
  2020-08-14

  Texas prison system still tops US in virus cases, as deaths and criticism mount

  A father who has been incarcerated for 30 years holds a baby prior to imprisonment; this man died in prison without seeing his family during the last months of his life.
• 
  2019-05-10

  The Penal System Today is Slavery’: Lawmakers Finally Start to Talk About Unpaid Labor in Texas Prisons

  Protestors demonstrate in public against the abuse of prison inmates forced to work for slave wages in unhealthy conditions.
• 
  2020-03-25

  Whataburger Employees Considered Essential Workers

  This is a short post from someone that works at a Whataburger in Texas. This story is important because while I believe fast food to not be essential, but rather an expensive convenience, it is important to keep in mind that some customers were not able to get their regular groceries at the stores during the pandemic. There was a panic that ensued amongst not only the nation but the globe as COVID-19 spread. Although fast food would not be something we would view as essential normally, during the pandemic, it may have been vital for some people as their shopping abilities may have been limited.
• 
  2020-10-07

  Young Doctor Dies of Covid

  This doctor worked in the emergency department at a hospital and refused PPE repeatedly because there was such a shortage of it. The article addresses the fact that so many medical professionals have died because of inadequate PPE.
• 
  2020-10-27

  Texas social workers can no longer discriminate against LGBTQ Texans or those with disabilities

  After backlash, the Texas government rescinded a recent action they proceeded with.
• 
  2020-10-21

  Taking a break from the fridge

  A restaurant in Texas changed their sign to reflect what many Americans are thinking eight months into social distancing.
• 2020-10-10

  Masks are not required at polling places in Texas

  Though democracy has won two important cases in Texas, the Texas Supreme Court upheld the additional week of early voting and struck down the limit of ballot drop off boxes to one per county, Texas voters must still face unnecessary risk to exercise their right to vote. Governor Greg Abbott issued both of the orders mentioned above and also issued a state wide mask mandate in the summer of 2020 for all counties with more than 20 reported Covid-19 cases. Masks became a requirement in those counties in the case that social distancing was not possible, places like a polling place where record voter turn out will force people to be waiting in lines for long periods of time and also being with lots of people indoors. The governor's mask mandate does come with a few exception. One being polling places. Texans are not required to wear a mask at a polling place because the governor believes this presents an undue burden to anyone that does not have a mask. This is an especially bogus argument in a state that requires voters to present ID. Not to mention it would be easy enough for the state to offer masks at the polling place.
• 
  2020-07-23

  The coronavirus is keeping Texas prisoners who've been approved for parole behind bars

  When people are granted parole they often are not released immediately and are required to complete programming or set up things outside of the facility for when they are released. It appears thousands of people incarcerated in Texas are being held in prison because transfers to other facilities where these programs take place are not happening in an effort to slow the spread of Covid. This article gives the details and the difference between what incarcerated people are saying and those in charge.
• 
  2020-07-16

  Mask Requirements

  Science is usually something that I felt comfortable understanding at face value, in certain situations. Epidemiology, virology, and the like are areas where I would like the smartest person in the room to have the loudest microphone. It seems that this is not always the case in politics, especially with science that is less than flattering. This item was added TAGS v6.1.9.1. I originally searched under the hashtag #florida. Within that search, I have chosen to add the following tweet because it shows the disjointed response between the federal and state governments, not to mention local municipalities, over the pandemic. Link to the Washington Post article: (https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/16/coronavirus-live-updates-us/?p9w22b2p=b2p22p9w00098&no_nav=true)
• 
  2020-07-16

  Fudging the Numbers

  I don't think that I can ever remember the CDC being a political entity, or one that ever really enjoyed any portion of the national spotlight. Rather than serving as a unifying, unbiased source to prevent the spread of the virus, it has become yet another battlefield in the ongoing culture war surrounding the coronavirus. This item was added TAGS v6.1.9.1. I originally searched under the hashtag #florida. Within that search, I have chosen to add the following tweet since Florida is one of the new virus hotspots. It also speaks towards the inherent doubt present in a significant portion of the population concerning the virus.