Interview with Sandra Smith. This interview is the fifth in a collection compiled by Glennda McGann, a volunteer researcher for the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute COVID-19 Oral History Project

The interviewee is an older blind person who discusses their experience with the pandemic lockdown in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. They discuss some of the challenges with living with blindness and continuing to work online and the non-inclusivity of other disabilities in teleworking and regular life during the pandemic. Additionally, they describe the challenges of being blind and trying to maintain social distance from people when you cannot see them. They also talk about how a good aspect of the pandemic is the sense of community and neighbors helping neighbors by checking in on people. Lastly, they talk about how they feel that people with disabilities are an afterthought during disasters and one way to remedy this is to have people from the disabled community on planning teams to help identify issues such as access to information and emergency planning.

Curator Note: Interviewer, Alexander Michalski, and narrator, Christopher Krizek, discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on jobs, politics, the economy and families.

This is part of a undergrad/ grad project for a public history course taught at UW - Eau Claire taught by Professor Cheryl Frei

This is part of a undergrad/ grad project at UW - Eau Claire for a public history course, taught by Dr. Cheryl Frei.

This is an oral history interview regarding COVID-19 and its effects on the interviewee and her family and friends. Interviewee wanted the title to be "Virtual Death."

Description written by curator: Grant Gilmore, of Ohio, conducts an oral interview with Alan Geiger of Florida. In the 35 minute interview they discuss numerous topics about the covid-19 virus including news coverage, politics, China, grocery shopping, obtaining prescriptions, spring break, snowbirds, gardening, fishing, amusement parks, homeschooling, church, quarantine, shelter at home, delivery, take out, "stupid people", and being prepared.

"My faith and beliefs are unchanged like I still believe in God." "Um... I don't go to church normally so I'm not sure." "Unchanged." "I have no idea as I don't go to church."

An anonymous interview about religions intersection within their community and Hispanic culture.

I think the pandemic just gave us a lot of time to do things we missed, and I know a lot of people have been having bizarre dreams/nightmares so I thought it would be interesting to one day look back on this period of time through my imagination.

Jessica Interviews an anonymous interviewee about how their church service has changed.

REL101 Oral History with "Israel"

The Bronx Covid-19 Project is an initiative of the Bronx African American History Project, one of the largest and most respected community based oral history initiatives in the United States. The goal is to capture the voices of Bronx residents, in audio and video form, about how their families, communities and workplaces have been affected by the Global Pandemic which has spread through the Bronx with deadly force

This is an interview from May 29th 2020 with five-year-old Emily of rural Oklahoma about COVID-19. She talks about her doll she named "Corona Barbie" in which she used a high neck dress to cover the doll's mouth like a mask. Emily also talks about missing family vacations, missing school, and especially missing her teacher Mrs. Looper. Growing up in a rural area, she was most excited to be able to share videos of her chickens hatching via Facebook Messenger Kids during the pandemic. Photograph included that inspired the interview is of the actual "Corona Barbie" mentioned in the interview. The photograph was taken on March 16th, 2020. Submitted for the #ruralvoices collection. Contributed by Clinton P. Roberts, curatorial intern for Arizona State University, HST 580. #HST580 #ASU

Interview with Kelly McDaniel of Blanchard, Oklahoma by Clinton P. Roberts on 05/27/2020. Kelly speaks about her experience of visiting a rural doctor's office during COVID-19. Kelly comments on the changes of procedures and the anxiety of possibly having COVID-19. Submitted for the #ruralvoices collection. Contributed by Clinton P. Roberts, curatorial intern for Arizona State University, HST 580.

Interview of recent high graduate Kris McDaniel of Blanchard, Oklahoma by Clinton P. Roberts on 05/27/2020. Kris speaks about changes to his senior year of high school and the unique ways his rural town created a drive-through graduation ceremony due to COVID-19. Kris also speaks generally on what it was like to be a young person in high school, missing key moments due to the pandemic, and what he wants future people to know about this experience in this rural community. Submitted for the #ruralvoices collection. Contributed by Clinton P. Roberts, curatorial intern for Arizona State University, HST 580. #HST580 #ASU

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.

This is a recorded conversation with a teaching colleague, Lauren, who works as the Math Department Chair at St. James Academy in San Diego. Since the beginning of the pandemic, and especially in California since the stay at home order on March 17th, teachers have done the incredible in teaching their students at a distance. Lauren shares her experiences at her school, reflections, and thoughts on the current state of education.

I did a podcast based on my journey through the Coronavirus of the struggle I was dealing with my schoolwork. The whole process was complicated, I had some time where I was struggling with being motivated with my schoolwork. But I pushed through it. The podcast was beneficial because I was able to reflect on my day and talk freely about how I feel. Overall, it was a great experience.

“I think it's probably... I guess made it stronger and sometimes it's hard to think that there is a greater purpose for all this but at the same time I think having faith has kept me grounded and it's also given me a source of community and kind of like a sense of peace during this time.”

"Uh... I mean kinda not in a huge sense you know some things have changed of course but... I dunno reading the bible and such kinda expected these things like this to happen so its not really as much of a shock if that makes sense but its definitely we definitely do take some precautions though and definitely throw some stuff to the whirlwind."

One student from REL101 interviews another about how the pandemic has affected their religion and their ability to attend services. Which creator is interviewer, or which is interviewee is unknown. However, both knew this would be a public interview.

“It is making my connection stronger to God because this is a time like I need him the most and I know that he can give me hope.” “No, but we're doing Zoom meetings every Wednesdays for youth group and we do Bible study and a little game.” “Yes, they're doing a drive-thru where people can go through and pick up food if they need it.”

“I think covid-19 has affected my beliefs and faith greatly. Me, personally, I'm a Christian so it's taught me to rely on my faith much more even though a lot of right now is in the unknown.” “So just like reading my Bible and going to church online has really helped me to have strong faith and have a positive outlook on life.” “My religious gathering is not physically meeting but they do have church online for anyone to join so its like streamed through YouTube and my own church’s app…”

“Actually, I believe in an odd way it has made my faith stronger and my beliefs more solid. Instead of falling into the frenzy and the panic that is out there because of that unknown, my ability to lean into God and rely on my faith has really made me calm I guess you could say.”

“I would say that it hasn't affected my faith or beliefs in any kind of drastic way. I've always grown up going to church and I still feel the same about my church and about my religious beliefs and God and I don't think that this pandemic was something sent by God to smite us or that we are being ignored by any kind of higher being or something for this happening. I think that just stuff happens and you know faith and science are two separate things.”

“I would say it's definitely a lot harder to get in community because I feel like that's a big deal with any kind of faith and so with church it's all online now so I'm just watching it like from my home church with my family like in our house so that's kind of a bummer not being able to be in community every week and it's hard because it puts like I don't know more pressure…”

“At this point, there's been real no effect on my faith or beliefs. My faith and beliefs are just that, my faith and beliefs. No pandemic,other natural occurrences, or otherwise will affect either.” “Well, since my arrival here in Kentucky quite a few years ago, I really haven't found a church to my liking so I don't really participate in any churches or other religious gatherings. For myself, my mind and my body are my church so no effect at all for myself but from what I do understand though that some churches have been affected as far as not being able to gather and I do understand as well from in the news that some churches are still gathering against the governor's restrictions…”

“To be honest, it has not affected my faith or belief at all because I wasn't religious prior to this pandemic so I'm still not. The only time that I did feel the need to pray or have any religious art in my life was when I thought I was sick and I was scared that I might die so I prayed or anytime I start to feel sick and think that I'm getting sick I pray.”

“It has made it a lot harder for me to continue practicing just everything just because I'm not really in Mass right now. So, they'll offer Mass online. It's just not the same because for me I have to have the Eucharist like the body and the blood and that's just how I get to that meditation zone where it's like I'm really here and it's just like me and god talking. I can't really feel that or get close just doing it from home watching a video. So, I do feel like I haven't been doing the best that I should be doing during these times.”

“I don't think that it really has influenced too much because I really feel that to get out of this we are in the hands of the scientists and the minds of science and it seems like especially lately in the United States there is a lot of issues between belief and science feeling like science is just one belief system and religion is another belief system. I don't happen to be really buying into this. This is science and we need vaccinations. We need to have any kind of antivirals or anything that can help us get through this virus.”

“Well, covid-19 hasn't really affected my faith at all. I feel like its affected the social aspect of it but I've been able to adapt with everything that's going on.” “No. So, the church that my family goes to they’re having live streams on Sundays. So, they have like two different live streams one in English and one in Spanish and it hasn't really affected my participation since it's like really easy to get to like it's available on YouTube and they have like a live chat feature that not that many people use because I mean you're not really supposed to be talking while the service is going on.”

“So, I feel that as a Christian myself and the community just all together have really just leaned more towards the Lord and our faith during these uncertain times because we know that there is a greater purpose and there's just no plan greater than his and it honestly just makes me thankful to have this relationship with Christ because it brings my family and myself more comfort.”

"Um... to be honest with you uh coronavirus did affect my faith and beliefs to the god um with all the disaster things happening around the global many thought that this week prayed really is going to help us anymore so that it made me doubt that kinda thing so however I still believe still believe my religion I trust my trust my god."

“Covid-19 really hasn't shaped my faith or my beliefs. You know I continue to believe in God and I have faith in God that continues. I personally don't believe God has anything to do with covid-19. God didn't create it. God didn’t spread it. God isn’t going to determine who gets it, who dies or who recovers. I believe that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. For instance, I hope that there is an afterlife beyond this world and that my soul will live on.”

"Well it stops me from being able to go to church and pray to my god." "No, it strengthened my beliefs." "We we gather uh the priest does like a Zoom meeting for us so that we can still get together spiritually and pray to our God." "Well since we're not doing community service and feeding the homeless in our community..."

“Being a Muslim, I believe faith is an important part of my life. It gives me a lot of comfort and relief. I think it is important to have faith and that this pandemic will be resolved as soon as possible.” “No, all of the mosques and religious centers are closed at the moment. Basically, I have been praying at home instead and I have not been able to attend my local mosque in weeks.” “Yes, they are. My local mosque has been asking for donations to help the homeless and poor. These people that are given food and supplies so it is necessary to get them some sort of assistance especially during these hard times.”

“It really hasn't. I believe in God. I'm a Roman Catholic. A lot of people are likening covid-19 to the book of Revelations which really it doesn't apply. What this has taught me as a person... I still believe in God as a result of this. My belief is even stronger. I don't think this is something that God has sent his wrath to kill the majority of people in the United States or that it's causing… It’s causing people a lot of anguish. I will say that because people have… as a society we have become so reliant on freedom. It really kind of has taken us a step back and if you want to look introspectively at yourself in your beliefs this is teaching everyone or it should be teaching everyone what’s important in your life.”

“I don't think it's really affected it much.” “Our religious community isn't gathering. They stopped it immediately and I think they're trying to reach out to people through online communications. That's about it.” Mostly person-to-person. They've done one huge like worldwide broadcast in the last couple months.”

“Covid-19 has affected my faith by not allowing me to attend the weekly mass I usually would. And I feel that it's a sign from God telling us we all need to expand our faith.” “No, we have not been but they have been holding live masses on social media and I've been watching those from home.” “Yeah, it's honestly sad not being able to be with the community and everyone has to watch it from home.” “My church has been helping anyone that needs help and is reaching out to them but as a Christian community as a whole I'm not sure.”

“I feel like for me it really hasn't affected it too much. I think it really just affected the way things go about because my religion is Christianity so before covid-19 we would meet on a weekly basis at a church and from there everybody gathers together so it's a really close room with a lot of people in it and since covid-19 and social distancing is in place we really can't meet so a lot of the operations in the church have gone more to a social platform they start uploading services every week on YouTube…”

“I would say that covid-19 has made me more... put more of my faith into God because when the world gets affected by pandemics such as this it can cause a lot of havoc on the world and if anything God is the one person you want to turn to in times like this.” “As far as like the community goes the only other two people I talk to about God is my parents and I know that my dad and stepmom have been attending services through like livestreams. Personally, I stopped going to church when I came out of high school. Should probably be going more often but it hasn't changed my religious views or any type of service that I've attended.”

“You know it's really strengthened my belief that there is a God not because of any large-scale event but mostly because of all the small things going on in my life.” “Well like you said before, I was sent home from my mission in Africa about six months ago or actually about six months earlier than I was supposed to and since being back all of our worship gatherings have been canceled so yeah it's definitely affected my participation in the religious community.” “Well there's been two worldwide fasts to stop the spread and I'm also pretty sure that there's been some donations made but I know those records aren't really that public.”

“People have described it as these times are unprecedented. Nobody has had to endure or deal with or live through something like this of this magnitude in the past. I know that there's always been previous flus or outbreaks or epidemics here and there you know the black plague obviously was a big one the Spanish Flu the flu of 1918 was pretty bad and you know a lot of those were pretty treacherous for how many lives that they took and how much it affected communities that way so thankfully we haven't had to deal with that a whole lot with this one as of right now.”

“Well I feel like its strengthened my faith and my beliefs because we've learned through our readings of the Bible and our studying that the Bible speaks about the end times being similar to what we're facing now and also through this we’ve seen our local assembly... people draw closer to God through this. We've seen people get the Holy Ghost over the phone through this pandemic. We’ve seen a lot of people just really get closer to God during this so I feel like personally for me it's strengthened my faith and my belief in God and it's just shown me that when the Bible speaks of end times it's exactly what we're dealing with going on now.”

“I would say I am by book Christian but for me I think I would consider myself having a stronger relationship with God rather than being committed to the religion of Christianity but yeah this pandemic has definitely risen the talk of God coming or the end. This stuff kind of tends to usually freak people out but I've done or at least attempted to become more prepared for his coming spiritually.”

“Overall, I would say it hasn't affected my faith in a negative way. I've heard from a lot of people. They have different opinions on why this situation is happening. For example, I've heard people say that it's God's judgement.I've heard people say it's kind of a wake-up call to help us recognize how we should be living differently but.. I don't think... I mean both of those are probably valid in anyone's beliefs but personally in mine I think it's just a good way to recognize how we can work together through this and grow from this and kind of put ourselves in a better perspective rather than worrying about daily things.”

“To make me grateful to have a spiritual basis to live my life from which is what I call... I guess that would be related to my religious beliefs... I had a spiritual life prior to having a quote religious belief. My religious belief came about 20 years ago in the form of another vital spiritual awakening which led to the Baptist Church. That faith led me through 911 which strengthened my face and gave me confidence that God could take care of things in the world that seem to be catastrophic to me.”

“Personally, it has not affected my faith or my belief. I've always had a very strong faith and I've always had strong faith because I'm a person who has pretty much knocked at death’s door more than once. I've been on life support so I look at covid-19 as another stumbling block and with my faith it's just something that I can crawl over like before.”

“I dunno. It's certainly helped me turn to reassuring scriptures to go back into how you connect with God and how God is with us all the time. So you're relying more on that providence of God that presence of God knowing that things are out of our control yet God is still there God is still in charge so I dunno know that's kind of what it's done for me.”