Items
Creator is exactly
Chris Twing
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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. -
2020-08-23
Chris Twing Internship Portfolio
I had planned to take the summer off from classes but when I saw an opportunity to be part of real time archiving in relation to the crisis I was living through I eagerly jumped at the opportunity. While I was initially worried, we, as interns, would get stuck doing the repetitive tasks no one else wanted, I was thrilled to be part of the creation and problem-solving process of a real time archive. While most students in my program focus on American or Global history my focus has been on public history. One of the tenants of public history is involving everyone. The archive became a place to see this in real time. We weren’t collecting only around famous people, important people, or large movements. We wanted to collect the stories of everyday people and also took the time to figure out whose voices were missing and attempt to remedy that problem. To that end I took on an extra project to add Black voices to the archive. I collected a list of all the historically black colleges and universities and also searched for museums and cultural or heritage centers across the country that we could contact in hopes they would want to work with us to add those voices to the archive. In addition to curating and adding items to the archive each week we focused on learning a particular skill set related to the archive. The one I struggled with the most was oral history. Though I am fine speaking in public and am not an introvert, I found conducting my first two oral history interviews exceptionally unnerving. However, I also discovered how important they are and what an incredibly rich source of information oral histories represent. What I learned from oral histories was so impressive that I have plans to conduct an oral history program in conjunction with my local historical preservation commission in the future. I am also no longer nervous about conducting oral histories. By the end of our fifteen-week internship we had become even more than a team, we had become a family. I believe this was partially due to a shared crisis. We were living through the Covid-19 pandemic together. For many of us, our weekly Zoom (online meeting platform) was nearly the only face to face contact, though virtual, we had with anyone. This was the case for me. Another intern joked he was going to rename his journal about the project, “The Summer I Distracted Myself from a Pandemic by Thinking about the Pandemic”. I realized that is exactly what happened. The pandemic really started in mid-March for me. I spent the initial month or so sewing face masks and that was how I kept myself focused and sane. Once the internship began in May I began processing my experience of the pandemic by working on the archive. I believe this summer will have been one of the defining moments of my life. -
07/24/2020
Philip Melendez Oral History, 2020/07/24
Philip Melendez was born and raised in Sacramento, California. His interactions with the police began in high school. He later committed a crime and served almost twenty years in prison. He was released from prison a few years ago and now works for Restore Justice, a California based non-profit, focused on criminal justice reform. Now married, with three grown children, he discusses his thoughts on the criminal justice system, reform, and the impact of COVID-19 on the incarcerated population within the United States, specifically California. (Note there is about two minutes of empty recording at the beginning of the Mp4 file.) -
07/01/2020
Emma Garcia Oral History, 2020/07/01
Emma Garcia [pseudonym] is a native of California and is attending a graduate program at Arizona State University online, seeking a master’s degree in history. As part of her studies she is working on the Journal of the Plague Year digital archive. The very archive this oral history interview was conducted for and included within. Living with her boyfriend, five months into the pandemic, she explains how life with coronavirus changed her daily routines, relationships with family and friends, where she gets her news, and what she worries and fears the most. -
07/09/2020
Chris Twing Oral History, 2020/07/09
This is an interview with Chris Twing describing her life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chris lives with her husband and her teenage son, and her mother lives in an attached home. In this interview Chris discusses her unhappiness with government response to COVID-19, her hopes and worries, and describes her community’s response to the pandemic. -
2020-07-01
Government Officials Send Coronavirus Safety Tips via Text Message
Yesterday, late in the afternoon, I received two text messages which appear to come from Austin, Texas officials warning me of the increase spread of coronavirus in the area and encouraging me to take precations. They also encouraged people staying home and enjoying the upcoming fourth of July holiday with only their household members. After receiving these two text messages, in both English and Spanish, I also received a phone call with a recorded message expressing similar things. It should also be noted that I do not live in Austin or Travis County. I'm in the suburb of Leander in Williamson County. -
2020-07-01
Supply and Demand: The strange things that now cost a small fortune
With everyone trying to maintain social distancing to prevent the transmission of covid-19 during the heat of summer one thing has become very expensive, swimming pools. While inflatable back yard kiddie pools like the one pictured usually cost about $25 this one, and numerous others that look the same, are going for five times that on Amazon. Getting a pool isn't only extremely expensive in the inflatable variety, the same is true for larger above ground and inground pools. Our neighbor ordered an above ground pool back in late April or early May. The company delayed shipping for weeks and finally canceled the order because they couldn't fill it. At my house we decided to have an inground pool built. Though we started the process in early May the pool isn't scheduled to be finished until early October because the demand for pools to be built is enormous. Our builder told us they usually get about 120 inquires per month and in May they received over 600. -
2020-04-28
Mask fabric from a friend
As soon as the CDC announced that the general public should start wearing masks whenever we are away from home I began making masks for myself, family, and friends. Unlike most people who sew I did not have a large stash of fabric to work with and the stores were out and even getting it from an online seller was taking four weeks. I reshared a picture of empty shelves at the Walmart fabric department someone else had taken and shared on Facebook and a woman I had only met once offered to send me fabric. I live in Texas and she lives in California. This is the box of fabric she sent via priority mail. I was so excited to receive this treasure. On top of that I've been getting elastic for mask making from another friend in Oklahoma who was able to order it wholesale, right before it became impossible to get. I've sent 60 masks to a local prison, about 30-40 to the Window Rock Reservation Wellness Center, and have given and sold about another 100 to friends, family, and random people who found out I was making masks via Facebook. I've also sent mask to several other states, including Ohio, Alaska, Michigan, and Kentucky, including masks made from the material in that box. *Cotton fabric -
2020-03-19
Gloves in the parking lot
I went to the grocery store for the first time in a week and when I returned to my car I noticed someone had discarded a pair of gloves on the ground in the parking lot. Some people have taken to wearing surgical masks and latex style gloves anytime they are out in public.