Some of the things we discussed include: Beginning of the pandemic: canceling travel plans, nature taking back the city, shortage of PPE and toilet paper, uncertainty about the seriousness of the problem Young kids learning through mailed-out packages from the school, transitioning to online learning, sending children back to school Talking with kids about the pandemic without scaring them Positive experiences with a doula, becoming a doula in wanting to serve Black women so those women could have doulas who look like them; needing more Black healthcare professionals in general Hospital pandemic policies separated doulas from their clients Virtual doula work Medical hierarchies in the birthing process, physicians dismissing doulas, certification Hospitals making decisions for birthing people that are about speed and money, not the birther’s needs “Birthing person” word choice, inclusive language Staying away from the news Not wanting to get on a plane, go to a mall or a concert, avoiding and missing out on celebratory events, becoming less spontaneous Health policy weaponized against vulnerable people; racism and maternal mortality rate; home births being criminalized or not covered by insurance Government policy and healthcare access; universal healthcare Impersonal, for-profit healthcare Pollution and the poor quality of food making people sick; climate change and a dying planet; planets for sale Driving rather than taking public transit The new experience of worrying about asymptomatic illness Love and health; warmth and safety Finding hope in the work of younger generations: the student led walkout in Florida over “Don’t say gay” Bill, youth working for clean water Getting support from friendship and family, providing support to clients and receiving support from clients: feeling “seen” and “loved” Preparing for first vending event Moving back in with mother after eviction Comparisons between the USA and other government policies to support citizens with housing, unemployment, and health needs during the pandemic Easy application for government pandemic assistance; slow turn around on getting assistance Consequences of inadequate unemployment support Unaffordable housing and minimum wage; site unseen renting Landlords rejecting Rent Assistance Funds Landlords and apartment management companies exploiting the housing market The importance of regular people in history; those most impacted by legislation and policy that exploits and harms them Police brutality, policy murdering Black people without consequence Fatal homophobia and transphobia The freedom to “just be” Men controlling women’s bodies and pregnancy Other cultural references: Beyonce, Lysol, Saturday Night Live, Florida’s HB 1557, Baltimore Gas and Electric, Baltimore Birth Festival (https://marylandfamiliesforsafebirth.org/event/new-2nd-annual-baltimore-birth-festival-may-15-2022/), Love After Lockup, Pearl Burk’s “the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members” See also: https://www.msfdoula.com

Self Description: ". I am a registered nurse with over 25 years of experience. I hold a Master's in the Life Care, a bachelor's in nursing and associate nursing. I have completed my doula training...end of life doula training. I am do some grief counseling that I was trained for. And a little bit of this, a little bit of that in the medical field. Before my previous job, I was working with ALS patients and Case Manager. Now I'm going to be doing clinical research. Now I'm going to be doing clinical research on psychedelics that pays the bills, so that I could do my doula stuff."

Self Description: "I'm a certified end of life doula. And I have been trained both within the United States and within the United Kingdom. I'm a member of several end of life doula associations, and I really believe in what I do. And I believe in trying to support others to the best of my ability. And what really brought me into this field, actually was the passing of my grandfather. And I actually did not have time to grieve. And so after doing research, I found that there was a such thing as an end of life doula, and that's really what got me on my way. So I founded Serene Transitions End of Life Doula Services LLC. I founded that after going through some motions, when it came to grieving with my grandfather, and then I really just took off running. So that's just a little bit about me."

Self Description: "I am a 58 year old woman who has had some very strange experiences in my life. I'm a mother of three grandmother of 1 2 3 5 I had to count their weight. No, yes. 1 2 3 4. Yes, five. And I am a published author, I wrote a book about my UFO experiences, my family's UFO experiences, including my children. My husband and I both have had experiences together. And we both are, in a sense, UFO investigators. Not active but we have been doing this for about 30 years."

Self Description: "My name is Charlene Harrod-Owuamana, I have been a nurse for 19 years. I'm a pediatric nurse, actually. And I'm during COVID I've taken a travel assignment in California, that I was so excited about that I wrote a book about it for COVID vaccine with vaccine versus shots."

C19OH

I asked the interviewee how the pandemic affected her experience at UB

Self Description: "Well, so I guess a good place to start is I am a long practicing professional spiritualist and witch, and I, I kind of work out of this business here I own a metaphysical shop in it's actually in Taylorsville, Utah, which is kind of a suburb of Salt Lake City. And, and then I kind of oversee the operation here, we kind of run a small spiritual center here and I oversee kind of a team of other practitioners that offer a variety of different types of well, you know, psychics mediums, people that do energetic healing work, these kinds of things. Yes. So and I've been doing this a really long time, actually, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'd say I'm fairly well established in this area, at least as anybody in my line of business could be."

Self Description: "Well, professionally, I'm a teacher, educator and K 12. High School. I've been in K 12 education since 2010. So you know, going on, you know, 12 years. I'm also a football coach. I've been doing that longer since 2003. And so those are my two professional passions, and you know, what I hope to continue to be doing in the near future and beyond. I'm also married, I have two kids, two and a four year old, including a two year old who was born nine days after California went on lockdown. So it was born on March 22. And it went on lockdown March 13. So my whole COVID references based around how old he is."

Self Description: "Oh, my goodness. I have no idea what people would want to know. I don't know what people would be interested in. Um, I could guess maybe, I'm 40 years old. I'm mixed race, Japanese and white. I- just to throw it out there, I'm a meditator. I have a spiritual practice. And, let's see, I thought of other things people might want to know. But now I forget. Yeah, if I, if something comes to me, I wish people could just ask me, I'm kind of an open book."

I asked the student about his experience at college during the pandemic

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.

I asked the interviewee how did the pandemic affect their college experience

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.

I asked how covid affected their college experience

A student describes their experience working during the Covid-19 outbreak.

I asked how did COVID affect their college experience

I asked the interviewee how did COVID affect their experience in college

A student describes their experience working during the Covid-19 outbreak.

This interview is one in a series of three oral histories that focus on the value of community throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. In this interview we hear from Dr. Arianne Abela, the Director of the Amherst College Choral Society. She describes the challenges of working to maintain a sense of community amongst choral students in a virtual environment, and the strained experience of transitioning back into an in-person choral experience. Lamenting the loss that this period was characterized by, she celebrates the role that choral singing plays today as we transition into a more in-person experience. She highlights how choir music has the power to bring people together in such hard times, as well as providing a voice to underrepresented identities particularly amidst the country’s social justice awakening. This interview was conducted by Marie Fagan and Ansley Keane. Marie is a senior member of the choral society under Dr. Arianne Abela’s direction.

A working student describes his pandemic challenges while employed in the food industry.

A working student describes his experience at a golf course during the pandemic. He discusses the reaction to the pandemic at his workplace as well as hardships faced by his family.

A student working during the pandemic describes his experience tutoring other students and dealing with the adversities thrown his way.

A student who worked during the pandemic reveals his hardships holding down a job while attempting to maintain a sense of normalcy in everyday life.

A garden working attending the University at Buffalo speaks about the difficulties and changes experienced during the outbreak of COVID-19.

Oral History about how the pandemic has affect the employment of this man.

Self-description: “I’m a parent of a young man that was severely vaccine injured. So what I bring to the conversation is the experience of vaccine injury, that has dramatically changed my life and has put me on a path where I became an advocate for informed consent in my country. I’m currently the president of Vaccine Choice Canada, and our mandate is both to educate health consumers about the risks of vaccination as well as protect and preserve our right to informed consent.”

Self-description: “I am a mother. I’m a wife. I’m a doula. And I’ve always found myself at the intersection of serving my community, and working with families from more of a nurturing perspective. I’ve been working with children, honestly, since I was 18. So that’s been about 18 years now. I’ve been able to kinda see the progression of both babies to children, adolescents, young adults, teenagers. It seemed like there was a transition in the ages, especially from when I grew up. And so I feel like this time, during this season, during this time, during this pandemic, it definitely has brought on different challenges and different changes in our society, particularly around those areas: concerning children, concerning giving birth. There’s definitely some things that I’ve seen and experienced firsthand when considering the changes that the pandemic has brought about. I really think that now with the advancement of this age, and we have so much access to information and technology, I still find that the holistic practices that I’m able to participate in and to employ with my clients is still superior to anything that has come out.”

Self Description: “I am 30 years old. I am a soldier in the military. I have obtained my Masters in social work. I am a birthing doula currently. I have a background in child welfare, mental health, forensics, social work, geriatrics care. And I have been an Emergency Medical Technician-Basic for the past 12 years.”

Self-description: “My name is Shanika King. I am a mom. I’m a doula. I am a leader in my community. And, yeah, I love people. I love this world. I love birthing moms. I’m just an all around loveable person.”

We talk about working in the pandemic, the affect that covid had in the workplace and in his own personal experience. Also, we discussed the protocols that his department took in response to covid and the vaccines and how they affected the place of work with the ability to choose to get it or not too.

Self description: “I introduced myself traditionally. I am a Ponca member, as well as I work for my Tribe. I am the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer. And I am also the museum curator, and many many other hats. I am also a direct descendent of Chief Standing Bear. And I’m a mom.” Some of the things we spoke about included: Indigenous family oriented culture Death of Tribal members, from COVID directly or aftereffects Lost language speakers/keepers, story tellers, medicine men and women; the pandemic taking away knowledge Father in assisted living; losing visitation access The negative health impacts of isolation An outbreak of COVID at the nursing home in Fall 2020; father caught COVID; father, Andrew Laravie (Ponca name Walking Strength) died in 23 April 2021; lost grandmother to COVID Not being able to have a traditional pipe ceremony for father’s death, he was a pipe carrier The Ponca Tribe’s loss of federal recognition in the 1960s, father’s activism for federal recognition Raised by great grandfather; learning how to live off the land, learning language and culture from father Touch as a love language and giving up physical contact when visiting father, slow normalization of physical distance and no/minimal physical contact Rushed vaccination distribution; vaccine mandates; deciding to get vaccinated Easy access to vaccination, masks, cleaning supplies, tests, and other outreach from the Ponca Tribal government; getting kits and care packages together for people isolating; COVID pay; vaccine distribution at Ponca run clinics Indian Health Services Being unable to perform funerals and ceremonies; being in charge of ~11 funerals in 2021 The shutting down of their museum and cultural center Different circumstances on large reservations and poor reservations in contrast to personal experiences in Ponca service areas War metaphors Being a caretaker for family; mental health in the pandemic; plant medicines and pharmaceuticals; disabling grief, being low functioning as a single mother; appearing high functioning and learning to reach out for help; guilt Land as church; stopping gardening in a state of grief, preparing to plant again Being a busy person pre-pandemic, but one who was balanced and with routine; feeling busier now that projects postponed by the pandemic are coming back up Comparing Ponca Tribe, Nebraska State, and USA Federal governments’ COVID response Becoming more introverted Having children with medical conditions, asthma, learning disabilities Caught COVID twice, once pre-testing Contradictions in the federal government’s handling of the pandemic, eg. masking Boarding schools striping children of cultural knowledge and connection; history repeating itself in the theft of religious and cultural identity for indigenous peoples during this pandemic; resonances with those children in boarding schools who could only perform ceremony in secret; spiritual safety The federal government had no advisement on cultural awareness for spiritual protections; patriarchal and colonial governance Colonization as a mental status, not defined by demographics That the expansion of mental health care digital infrastructure isn’t enough without spiritual support Survival mode and making art Children watching a parent learn to cope in a healthy way The pandemic as a genocide of the generation Worries that histories will forget many of this moment’s failings Marginalized people losing more during the pandemic Other cultural references include: NAGPRA, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Zoom, memes See also: https://www.poncatribe-ne.org/culture/historic-preservation/ https://www.wowt.com/2021/10/08/standing-bear-high-school-breaks-ground-with-descendants-attendance/ https://nativeamericacalling.com/friday-february-18-2022-the-worst-date-ever/ https://www.ashburnfh.com/obituaries/print?o_id=7453898

Self-description: “Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening to anyone that is listening. Again my name is Ife Adebowale and I am the founder and owner of Cherishing Life Beginnings Doula, Birth, and Educational Services, LLC here in Columbus, Georgia. Our mission here in Columbus, Georgia right now, we are a community based service organization, so, our mission here in Columbus, Georgia is to be able to provide low cost affordable care to those mothers that aren’t able to afford a doula or a birthworker in general. We are here to aid with alleviating the systematic and structural racism in the healthcare system, and we are also here to just be advocates. We are a organization that is advocate of home births, natural births and assisted, and advocates for breastfeeding. In a nutshell we are here anything and everything that a Mother Earth needs while she is going through pregnancy, labor, and postpartum.”

Self description: “I am speaking from the place of being a person who has been blessed to have a roof over my head, has been employed, and has, thank God, mostly been healthy during this last year. I speak as a Rabbi and somebody who has always been, and especially in the last year, been a point of pastoral support for folks, a point of outreach for those who have been in need in a variety of circumstances. I speak as an educator. I speak as the executive director of a nonprofit organization that engages in service and volunteering to address needs, specifically in areas of food insecurity and education disparity, which over the course of this last year has been even more exacerbated even more than it was before the pandemic. And, I speak from a place of being a creative that has tried to dig deep into this time knowing that future generations will want to know of this time. And so whether through visual arts or through writing or through testimonies like this one, I speak from a place of knowing that our stories and the way we’ve moved through this time will be of interest to folks for many many generations and years to come. ”

Self Description: “I currently work for the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. I am also a Ponca member, an enrolled member of the Tribe. Basically what I do is a lot; I wear a lot of hats. Overseeing our museum is one of the things I focus on among many other things, our pow wow, annual pow wow every year in August. Just making sure everything goes smoothly and runs accordingly as far as focusing on the budget finances are all correct, we’re spending the money properly. I also oversee our Tribal Historic Preservation Officer and soon to be our Tribal Historian, which we’ll be adding to our staff. I love what I do and I’m here for my people.”

I spoke to Sam at the Arizona Historical Society's 2nd annual Covid Remembrance Event. Sam was with his son, Alex. Alex did not wish to be interviewed but he gave permission to have his health information included in the interview. He was present during the interview. Sam describes his family life during the initial lockdown, how he kept working at the hospital but his wife and son stayed home. Sam called himself the "hunter gatherer" during that time as he was the one getting groceries and running errands. He describes how he got the first dose of his vaccine but also got infected with COVID at the same time. His symptoms were mild, but his son and wife had different experience. Sam describes losing his wife to Covid. He also describes how he has dealt with his grief and anger by joining a support group and Marked By Covid group. He shares his story as a way to honor his wife.

At the Arizona Historical Society's 2nd annual Covid Memorial event, I spoke with Rose and recorded her story about losing her brother, John, to Covid. Rose describes the challenges she faced being far away from her brother as he was diagnosed and then ill. She currently has her brother's dog, Emma, and is trying to re-home her according to her brother's wishes. Rose describes how her last communication with her brother was a text for help. After the recording was turned off and we were walking out, she described how she felt when she was parked and walking to the hospital to say goodbye to her brother she saw anti-mask protestors at Central and Thomas Road. She was so sad and angry that these people were arguing against something that might save lives. She said that she couldn't argue with them and just wished them good health and walked away.

[curator's note] I recorded this interview at the Arizona Historical Society's 2nd Annual Covid Memorial Event at the Arizona Heritage Center. Eddie spoke about his experience as one of the first cases of Covid in Arizona, and his illness and long recovery. He views his story as a blessing.

Self-description: “I think the most pandemic relevant thing about me is that I run a national nonprofit called MedSupplyDrive that does PPE donations across the country, as well as doing health equity education for high schoolers. So I’m one of the national logistics directors; I’ve been in that position since April of 2020, though I started working with the organization in March. So, I’ve been in this seat for kind of as long as the US has been experiencing the pandemic. The other hat that I wear that’s been particularly salient is that I’m a medical student, I’m a rising first year, and have been operating in various healthcare roles or healthcare adjacent roles: I was a scribe, I’ve been street medic, I’m a crisis counselor. I spend a lot of time in healthcare space and a lot of time in nonprofit PPE space.”

Self Description: "I've been on the streets here like two years now waiting for security but COVID Actually, they stopped it. And they actually stopped it for like a year. So now I gotta go see the doctors over again and everything. So now I'm going to shelter xe at least now I but I stayed in the shelter and five months."

Self description: “For much too long I guess that’s a question that I always ran away from, I think. I was born to the native island of St. Lucia. I work across the Eastern Caribbean. To my family I am my mother’s last child, I am the fifth born of the family. And I have been in activism for over 16 years. I don’t particularly like labels. But I think the label that most recently I felt a little more comfortable with is somewhere along the lines of non-binary, you know gender nonconforming kind of label; but only if and when necessary. I still prefer absolutely no labels if I can pass with it. I think my work has been, for the last 15 years, predominantly working on the advancement and rights of LGBT persons. Currently I’m over 45, still looking like 25, so I’m thankful for that. I think I’ve created a global family. So I could call, almost in any country, where there is someone I would call a friend or chosen family over the last couple years of engagement in activism.” Some of the things we spoke about included: Work at the Eastern Caribbean Alliance of Diversity and Equity The pandemic and its similarities to the consequences of climate change The pandemic uprooting a year of planning Caribbean economic dependence on tourism; LGBT persons in the Caribbean tourism industry losing their jobs The pandemic’s impact on LGBT people going back to live with family and on people living alone Changing structures of services and meetings due to the pandemic, such as regular check-ins at multiple tiers: with the board, with the team, and with members; offering staff mental health break days; moving meetings onlines; weekly online activities; team building Providing care packages, food, transportation support, and funding Pandemics are nothing new in the Caribbean: the pandemics of HIV and climate change preceding this COVID pandemic, that there will be more pandemics to come Similarities between COVID and HIV: misinformation, rumors, fear, uncertainty; similarities in contact tracing; learning to live with HIV and learning to live with COVID Humans as social creatures Inequitable consumption of COVID vaccines in the Global North in contrast to the Global South, and general lack of resources for health in the Global South–information, supplies Global anti-Black racism; colorism The history of slavery and colonization in the Caribbean and the legacy of colonial norms The colonial influence of the Dutch, English, and French on the Caribbean in contrast to the contemporary influence of the USA on the Caribbean today Unlearning colonial narratives as activists How the collective of “Caribbean Islands” has had better success in persuading funders to support activism, than individual islands on their own Hearing about the pandemic through an outbreak associated with a Chinese New Year celebration Associating the pandemic with a “rich man’s disease” because it was impacting people who could afford international travel before people starting bringing the disease back with them from travel Reduced access to goods and services; avoiding using any services other than groceries and banking; not going to a medical facility unless absolutely necessary Businesses going online and digital infrastructure Believing that reaction to BLM changed during the pandemic because of the slowing-down of time; needing a moment to pause and take it in Implicit bias and overt racism’s impact on police behavior Botham Shem Jean, a St. Lucian murdered by a police officer in the US, and the feeling of St. Lucians about the need for just for him Trump’s migration policies, sexism and its impact on international relations with the Caribbean; holding one’s own countries in the Caribbean accountable for their own side of international relations Testing, masks The transformation of information into knowledge; information literacy and messaging Peace of mind, happiness, and health Working from home Uncertainty about the world being left to the youth; a dropping birth rate; youth dying young Systemic changes and revolution Gardening and exercising as selfcare Being in a long distance relationship Stigma and discrimation against people with COVID Stories of survival Cultural references: OutRight International’s COVID Emergency Funds, GlobalGiving funding platform, Netflix, Zoom, Whatsapp

Self-description “I live in Houston, Texas. I call myself a seasoned saint, ‘cause I’m 60+, 65+. I live at home with my husband who is disabled, and my son; one of my sons is disabled. [I have two sons at home, and one is disabled.] And I work for a non-profit agency that does CHIP [Children’s Health Insurance Program] and children’s and Medicaid advocacy.” Some of the things we spoke about included: Having a disabled son (right side paralyzed) on dialysis, changing dialysis procedures from pre- to mid-pandemic; medical advocacy; new COVID protocols in the hospital Mother passed away in March 2021, not being allowed in an emergency room, no one comforted her as she was passing Opted not to have a memorial service, being in a large family where travel would have been necessary The stress of new higher stakes decisions over everyday tasks, like going for groceries or going for a walk Being a social family staying home; not visiting another son; being a hugger No crowds at all, very few gatherings at all; safety boundaries when there are visitors… masking + vaccination Decisions from head office about working from home; stopping outreach work in the community for safety First hearing about the pandemic preparing for a fundraiser: Beat the Odds Scholarship for high schools seniors; 5 students chosen to receive the scholarship, Zoom celebration; those students different experiences of college moving online and not getting the experience of going to campus; homeless students The upcoming cold snap, and the cold snap that happened in March [Feb?] 2021; losing electricity for ~4 days; risks of going to a shelter; strategies of staying warm Universal healthcare The decision to become vaccinated, and communication with family; comparisons with the flu shot, as well as mandatory vaccines Hope and uplifting narratives The apathy of others, hoaxers Other cultural references include: Maya Angelou, Lysol, Macy’s, Zoom, Sidney Poitier, James Baldwin

Interviewer, Madeline Shaw was joined by Michael Pendergast to discuss his experience during the pandemic. Despite numerous barriers between job loss and financial insecurity, Michael reflected on his continuing positive outlook as he looks forward, past COVID-19. As a Prince Edward Islander, Michael was able to speak on the unique experience of living in Atlantic Canada during the pandemic and how his home became a safe refuge for his children, returning home internationally and from other parts of the country.

A thirty-five-minute interview with a junior high student about the evolution of her experience of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years. She discusses the differences between her experiences of grades six, seven, and eight and touches on the difficulties of maintaining friendships. She also discusses how the pandemic has changed her home life.

This interview covers the experiences of Tina Giesbrecht during the pandemic. Tina is from Aylmer, ON, which has a large Mennonite community. Her grandson was born during lockdown, and her daughter was married during the same period.

This oral history features the story of a teacher entering the workforce just as the pandemic struck. It details her experiences navigating a new environment in both her budding career, as well as her part time job at a grocery story. This interview details how her daily life has shifted from 2020 to 2022.

How does a community change or not change as a result of COVID? A discussion of work, family and community life and how COVID changed them. The role of vaccines makes a difference too.

An interview with recent university grad Amy Russett. She talks about her experience working from home, the opportunities and missed opportunities she's had from the pandemic. She also talks about her experience working at Starbucks and a drop-in shelter at the beginning of the pandemic, the hobbies she's started, and how the pandemic has affected her friends and family.

Self-description: “I work as a healthcare worker, I’m a pediatric dentist. I’m coming from that perspective. I’m coming in from the perspective of a mother. And also as somebody who needed healthcare during the pandemic.”

Self description: “I’m a investigative journalist and a science writer. I’ve been researching and writing about issues related to health topics for over 15 years. And I have written, or co-written 8 books, I just submitted my 9th manuscript to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. I’d want people to know that I'm an avid researcher. I do have a PhD, but my PhD is in the humanities. And that I’m very well versed in issues that have to do with health.”