Items

• 
  2020-06-21

  Disinfectant Battle at the Doctor's Office

  The photo was taken at the beginning of the pandemic, probably a Friday in the summer because I was not wearing scrubs (casual Fridays). I was working in a pediatric office as a medical assistant in Litchfield County, Connecticut. If you know anything about that area, it was scary at the time because all of the families with any means in NYC were fleeing the city and coming to Litchfield and Fairfield Counties. We were quite nervous at the time that they would spread covid to our communities at the same rate as it was in NYC. Luckily it did not happen. It was a scary time, as every day we would get the ding in the morning and the end of the day of an email notification telling us how many deaths were in local hospitals, how many beds were left (spoiler- none), how much PPE was available (again, none) etc. We were so short on PPE we had to reuse our masks for a whole week (unless exposed of course). I can still remember the feeling of the little fabric “firs” that would start to itch my face after a few days, and the nice smelling essential oils we put in them to make wearing them tolerable- I used citrus smells, and my coworker used coconut. The worst was the lack of cleaning and disinfecting products. We tried to not see patients that were even remotely sick with covid symptoms because we did not have enough cleaner to disinfect the rooms after they left. When we were fortunate enough to get a new bottle of Lysol, we would take fun photos like this one of me threatening my coworker whom I suspected was covered in germs. Little moments like this helped to alleviate the stress of the moments when that email ding came in at the end of the day.
• 
  2022-05-05

  Wave of COVID-19 closes Enfield school

  This is a news story by 22 News by Kayleigh Thomas. This is about a school that was forced to close down due to rises in COVID cases. Of the 75 staff members, 40 have tested positive. On Monday, a letter was sent telling parents about the school closure.
• 
  2020-10

  Pandemic Birthday at the Aquarium

  Last October 2020 I celebrated my 22nd birthday. Between COVID-19 and the death of my father, my birthday wasn't high on my list of things to prioritize. However, my family and I decided last minute to go to Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut as it is one of my favorite places & they had socially-distant protocols in place. I enjoyed seeing the belugas, seals, penguins, and jellyfish in a safe and distant manner.
• 2020-03

  Rural Connecticut: Covid Doubters

  I lived in a rural part of Connecticut during the 2020 Covid lockdowns. Despite the widely publicized nature of the pandemic, at least half of the citizens in my town didn't believe the disease was real. There was a real divide over wearing masks and closing down schools/work because many people felt the disease was over-blown, not deadly, or simply wouldn't strike a rural place as hard as a city. While my town didn't suffer as much as places like New York City did, we still had Covid cases and deaths across the county. It was frustrating to live in a rural place during the outbreak, because even though we were "safer," than city-dwellers, nobody took measures to preserve that safety. This mindset continued when vaccines became available, and the latest rage in rural areas is using Ivermectin (horse medicine) instead.
• 
  2021-05-15

  Graduation: We Made It Work

  I was very lucky to graduate in Spring of 2021 from Eastern Connecticut State University, as my school managed to create a socially-distanced graduation for us. It was a tricky event for the university to handle, and commencement had to be divided into three ceremonies at various times. You had to wear a mask and each chair was placed six feet apart. Handshakes were skipped in favor of elbow bumps and air fives. Despite all the planning, the event was truly memorable and so special to me. In 2020 my father unexpectedly passed away (not COVID related). Being able to attend a "real" graduation in 2021 meant the world to me, as I felt like I had achieved something and was honoring his memory. Though COVID-19 has limited many events, I was fortunate to have participated in a commencement ceremony this past semester.
• 
  2020-12-10

  Rajni Komal Oral History, 2020/12/10

  The contributor of this item did not include verbal or written consent. We attempted to contact contributor (or interviewee if possible) to get consent, but got no response or had incomplete contact information. We can not allow this interview to be listened to without consent but felt the metadata is important. The recording and transcript are retained by the archive and not public. Should you wish to listen to audio file reach out to the archive and we will attempt to get consent.
• 
  2020-11-23

  High Risk Populations - The Story of David Nelson M. II

  “This email is in regard to my grandfather's Covid diagnosis: My grandfather's name is David Nelson M. II. He was born June 1, 1936, so that means he's 84. It also means he is in the high-risk group. In January of this year [2020], he went on a cruise with a group of his friends and returned feeling ill. At first he wrote his illness off as the flu, but his "flu" lasted for months. Eventually, went to a clinic and discovered he had COVID-19, so his doctor ordered him to go to the emergency room on November 3rd. He was in the emergency room for five hours before the staff finally admitted him, spending the next seven days in the hospital. After a five-course treatment on IV, he was released and allowed to go home on November 10th.” The contributor of this story also reported that within two weeks following his grandfather's release from the hospital, his grandfather had a serious fall. Whether or not this fall can be contributed to any prolonged side effects of the virus has not yet been determined. There have been, however, documented cases of people experiencing cognitive fatigue, such as dizziness and, and other side effects related to cognition and the nervous system weeks and even months following their recovery form COVID-19. This is a phenomena warranting further research to determine what the possible long-lasting effects may be to people who have survived the illness, especially those at high risk such as the elderly and those suffering from a chronic disease.
• 
  2020-10-29

  Essentials that are hard to find during COVID-19

  I submitted this image because it represents the cleaning items that are essential in my life but have been hard to find because of COVID. Many people were restricted about how many Clorox wipes they could buy at the store. It was weird to go to the store and not find the cleaning products I need. When I found an item such as Lysol Laundry Sanitizer, I would send a text to my friends and family to let them know which store had them in stock. I would also try to buy several Lysol Laundry Sanitizers so that I could give them to my friends and family. Prior to COVID, cleaning products would not be a gift that you would give your friends and family, but it became a thoughtful item that you could give to your loved ones. For several weeks it was difficult for me to find Lysol laundry sanitizer. It was scary to go to the store and find the shelves empty. Luckily, I had already stockpiled prior to COVID so I had plenty for several months.
• 
  09/19/2020

  Eric Chapdelaine Oral History, 2020/09/19

  Eric Chapdelaine is interviewed to share his perspective on the COVID-19 pandemic as a graduating senior in a small, private high school and as a current freshman at Northeastern University.
• 
  09/19/2020

  Ashley Freeman Oral History, 2020/09/19

  In this interview, Ashley shares her experience dealing with the pandemic; in particular, how her family life was affected, as well as her school and social life.
• 
  09/18/2020

  Gordie Koshien Oral History, 2020/09/18

  This interview is done between two people who had just met for the first time. It is meant to remember this moment in time and how this pandemic can bring even strangers together.
• 
  2020-08-21

  A Lone Graduate

  This image was taken of me the day before I moved away from my hometown, and in the middle of a global pandemic, it was the only graduation “celebration” I ever got to have. My graduation was rescheduled countless times because of Covid-19, and in a way, I gave up on the thought of having a true graduation. An in-person ceremony was planned, but cancelled due to a large party thrown by members of my class, which resulted in an outbreak. Though the frown in this picture was not intentional, it sums up the impact that Covid-19 had on my experience as a student in the class of 2020.
• 
  2020-04-11

  Social Distancing for Food

  This is a sign at a CT bakery reminding everyone to practice social distancing.
• 
  2020-04-11

  COVID-19 Tents

  These are some of the testing tents at one of the many hospitals that have them.
• 
  2020-04-13

  COVID-19 Moral Sign

  This is a sign outside of a home in Derby, CT that is meant to boost moral during COVID-19.
• 
  2020-06

  Wilton, Connecticut 2020 High School Graduation Parade and Student's Newspaper Column

  Wilton is a small town in Connecticut where I grew up. Due to the Coronavirus, their traditional graduation was canceled. Instead, they got together and had a graduation parade on the school grounds. I also included a column from a graduating senior
• 
  2020-05-08

  Full Heart Farm Launches Online Farmers Market Amid Pandemic

  "When COVID-19 first hit the US, Allyson Angelini of Full Heart Farm began to hear of disruptions to farming operations in the Seattle area. She knew it was only a matter of time before her farm would be impacted." This multimedia article describes the launch of the Full Heart Farm Collective amidst the pandemic and was written by a senior journalism student following a beat developed and thought about in terms of the "local" in a journalism course at Pratt Institute that was upended by the pandemic.
• 
  2020-05-04

  School got shut down and everyone is taking online course

  When the governor announce the campus will be shut down and no one is going to the lectures. Everyone starts taking online courses. This experience makes me feel it is hard to do online course because it is hard to follow the instructions and it is hard to communicate with professors.
• 
  2020-05-15

  Milkmen making comeback as coronavirus pandemic prompts more families to stay home, order groceries

  [Curatorial Note]: Link to FoxNews article about the return of the Milkman due to people ordering grocery delivery as more families stay at home during COVID19 pandemic. Discusses the modern update to the Milkman industry in relation to Wade's Dairy in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
• 
  2020-04-08

  Innovation Keeps Studio Art Classes Vibrant

  Studio art classes would seem to present a particular remote learning challenge. Yet professors like Audrey Goldstein are sharing ideas in nationwide online forums and then implementing ideas for maintaining a vibrant educational experience for student artists. One way students and professors stay connected is through one-on-one video critiques that follow Zoom class meetings
• 
  2020-04-29

  One College Student's Experience During the COVID-19 Pandemic

  As I imagine it is for many other people in the United States, particularly in the northeast, the emergence of the Coronavirus, and the subsequent panic and declaration of a global pandemic, was surprisingly quick. The first that I heard about the virus was from a news article during Holiday Break. At this point, my thinking was that because it is in China, it was not that big of a deal. However, the picture of doctors in full protection gear carrying a body bag was disturbing. Being a person with contamination fears that accompany my obsessive-compulsive disorder, I immediately Googled the symptoms of the disease. I was slightly comforted that one of the symptoms was not nausea and vomiting because my main phobia is vomit. A few weeks after this initial introduction, I was back at Bates College for my Winter Term. Coincidently, I was enrolled in a course called “China in the World.” Part of this course was to analyze media relating to China and connecting it to our core concepts. The first week that we got into small groups to share our individual pieces of media that we chose, most of my classmates choose news articles about the novel Coronavirus. In the weeks following our initial discussion about COVID-19, the virus was present on everyone’s mind, but it did not seem as an eminent threat. People would bring it up in conversation, but we were told not to worry. We had our winter break during the week of February 16th, and many people traveled with friends or went home. I went back to my home in Connecticut. Being that we live an hour away from New York City, my dad commutes into the city every day, and we visit the city often. My mom planned for us to go into the city and watch the Broadway show, Hadestown, before I left to go back to school. At this point, I saw some people taking precautionary measures, but the majority of people did not seem to be worried. My sister brought hand sanitizer, and we all used it before eating and after touching handles or anything else. After break, I headed back to school. During the next two to three weeks, the nation saw the confirmed cases of the virus rapidly increase. Once it became prevalent in the Boston area and colleges started to shut down, it was only a matter of time before Bates closed. The last week before we were sent home—the week of March 8—things started to change each day. Each day brought cancelations, new dining protocols, and a lot of uncertainty for both students and professors. I found it hard to concentrate on getting the work I needed to accomplish completed. By the time it got to Thursday, the high school in my town—where my sister is a senior—had moved to remote learning, the preschool that my mom works at had closed down, and many other colleges and universities have sent their students home or asked that they stay home after spring break. Thursday, I tried to spend a good amount of time with my friends, assuming that we were going to be sent home and not going to be able to see each other for an unknown period of time. Friday morning, around 10am, Bates College President Clayton Spencer announced that we would need to pack up all of our belongings and leave school by the following Tuesday. Subsequently, we would begin remote learning. My 11am class was canceled and very few people showed up to our last in-person China in the World class. During this time, our professor put up the live stream of President Trump’s address to the American public declaring a national emergency. We all sat there pretty quietly. The whole situation still felt so surreal. One invisible entity was causing mass destruction around the globe. My sister and my dad drove up to Maine and picked me up Saturday the 14th of March. It was quite difficult to say goodbye to all of my friends, especially since I wanted to give them all hugs. I said goodbye to the vast majority of people I wanted to see and we headed to Portland for the night. It occurred to me as we were driving by the historic quad a Bates that this would be the last time I would be there for a while; I was planning on going abroad in the fall before the chaos of the virus. Arriving at the hotel, I was feeling pretty down. I am such a homebody, so I never thought that leaving school and spending the rest of the semester at home would be upsetting. It truly was. The week after being sent home, I got an email saying that I was exposed to the one individual who had a confirmed case of the disease on Bates campus. It was a little alarming feeling like I might have exposed my family to the virus. However, my sister happened to be talking to her best friend that night and her friend confessed that her whole family had the virus. Therefore, we had been exposed to the disease twice. We all quarantined for fourteen days, and luckily no one developed symptoms. Over the last month, I have been trying to stay busy and focus on my schoolwork. As more and more people perish from disease, it has been difficult to get up each day not dreading the worst. I have tried to limit the amount of news that I have watched in order to decrease my anxiety. I have tried to ignore some of the “news” presented on social media sites that provide misinformation about the disease. I wish I could help with the crisis more than I have already because, honestly, it feels like staying home is not enough. It has helped to talk to my friends and family over Skype, Zoom, or FaceTime. Now that school is over, I am going to focus on doing things for my mental and physical health. As I mentioned before, having contamination fears during this pandemic has been challenging. Through therapy, I have been taught to limit my hand washing and other compulsions having to do with my phobias. During the pandemic, though, it is necessary for everyone to be extremely cautious and wash their hands pretty constantly. All of the precautionary measures have been triggering, but I am proud to say that I am handling the pandemic a lot better than I would have imagined I would have a few years ago. I am extremely grateful to be able to be living at my family home safely, and having access to food and other resources. I feel extremely privileged being in the situation I am in, and sincerely feel for others who may not find themselves in a similar circumstance.
• 
  2020-04-20

  #SouthingtonBearHunt

  Families in Southington, CT organize a “bear hunt” to provide an excursion opportunity for youngsters kept at home during school closures. Bears and other stuffed animals were placed in windows or in yards for interested families to find and count. Results were reported via Facebook.
• 
  2020-04-25

  Journal of the Plague Year entry 4- Logan Bellos

  Connecticut (where I'm from) has been one of the top states with most Coronavirus cases, however I think we are starting to see the bright side of the tunnel. My mom is a hospital nurse and although her hospital hasn't gotten the most cases, it is still not a place you want to be. However, she's told me that less and less people are coming in with the coronavirus which to me, shows that social distancing is really working for us and it is great to see people doing what they should be. Let's hope we can keep it up.
• 
  2020-03-12

  A Dose of Reality

  This one email changed everything. Every student and staff member at Central Connecticut State University received this email from the President of the University, Zulma Toro. In it, she describes the possibility that a student at the university might have been infected with the virus and that she has closed the campus because of the danger. Almost every university student around the country has some sort of email like this and it was one of the most frightening emails we've ever received in our lives. It changed everything. Students were forced to leave campus in two hours and left many of their belongings behind. Those items left in the dorm rooms are now being packed up and moved to storage containers as CT National Guard Troopers and Medical Staff are staying in the empty dorms to support efforts to fight the pandemic. All classes were canceled and shifted to online learning for the rest of the semester. In one quick email students were deprived of relationships with friends and staff and thrust into a world of unknowns. Some students who relied on campus housing and food were left homeless and without basic means to support themselves. All in the space fo two hours. Before this email, you could say Coronavirus was just something in the news that didn't effect our lives, but after this email, we all got a dose of reality. We couldn't live our lives the same way anymore. The ignorance was gone.
• 
  2020-04-01

  “Exposure: Quarantine in the Valley” Photo Series

  Ansonia, CT-based photographer Jason Edwards is compiling a photo series to document daily life in the Naugatuck Valley during the Covid 19 pandemic. He has set out to capture the many ways people are adapting during this uncertain times. His photos highlight precautionary measures put in place, like social distancing, as well as the strength of family and local communities.
• 
  2020-04-01

  “Exposure: Quarantine in the Valley” Photo Series

  Ansonia, CT-based photographer Jason Edwards is compiling a photo series to document daily life in the Naugatuck Valley during the Covid 19 pandemic. He has set out to capture the many ways people are adapting during this uncertain times. His photos highlight precautionary measures put in place, like social distancing, as well as the strength of family and local communities.
• 
  2020-04-02

  American Physician Locked Down in Mumbai

  A journal of one physician's experience under Covid19 lockdown standed in a foreign country
• 
  2020-03-30

  Noella Spa Flyer #2

  This is a gift card sale for my family's business. At the given moment, this is the only way our business can earn any money.
• 
  2020-03-16

  Noella Spa Flyer #1

  This is a temporarily closing flyer for my family's business. We had originally decided to close for two weeks, but that was extended to the end of March, and now until the end of April.
• 
  2020-04-05

  Noella Spa Flyer #3

  This is a questionnaire that my family's business may use when they decide to reopen. It is to be used as a precautionary measure, to decide whether or not a customer is allowed inside.
• 
  2020-03-25

  Furlough Notification from Caffe Nero

  Caffe Nero told it's employees on March 24th that it would be closing that Friday. All employees, including salaried managers, are being furloughed for at least two weeks. This is the letter they gave employees. The state guidelines for collecting unemployment were not actually attached. #HIST5241
• 
  2020-03-21

  Adams supermarket, Deep River, Connecticut, 8:15 am,

  One sign shows the store tried rationing. The second sign shows it wasn’t enough.