From the Schenectady County Historical Society website. 

We are all making history right now, as we live through the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s an emergency of historic proportions, and has been compared to the Black Plague, or the 1918 Spanish Flu. Like those past crises, COVID-19 will be a major topic of study for future historians. Years from now, Schenectadians will look back and wonder, “how did the COVID-19 pandemic affect Schenectady County? How did our ancestors respond to the crisis?” “What was life like for people quarantined, for months?”

You can help future researchers understand for themselves what life right now is like. You can help future historians understand the pandemic’s immense impact on our community, and on ourselves, and on our way of life. You can help future historians understand how this international emergency changed your life, and changed our world, forever.

Consider recording your unique perspective for inclusion in the SCHS archives. Diaries, scrapbooks, photo albums, letters, songs, poems, short stories, and other works of art are all important sources for future historians. Be creative: there are infinite ways you can express yourself, and document the impact of COVID-19 on you, your loved ones, and your neighbors. Read more...

Help make history by sharing your story of the COVID-19 pandemic. Just as we relied on information about the Spanish Flu epidemic in 1917-1918 to inform our response to COVID-19, future generations may benefit from understanding what we experienced. By collecting your stories, we become witnesses-to-history, providing insight into daily life during this global pandemic and adding to the historic record.

How can you get involved? Please take some time to fill out this form -- and feel free to share with your friends, family members, and neighbors -- the more people participate, the better understanding we’ll have of the impact of COVID-19.

This survey consists of 20 questions -- you do not have to answer them all. Answer what you like -- each one you answer helps paint a portrait of our community during COVID-19.
Feel free to fill out this survey multiple times. For example, if you answered the questions on May 27th and have more information that you wish to report on June 15th (random dates selected), submit a second survey response. Thank you for participating. Read more...

From the Oneida County History Center website.

We are all living through a historic moment in time. The History Center wants to preserve your story for future generations and is inviting the public to submit their COVID-19 stories. These narratives will become part of the History Center's collections and will be available for future researchers to learn how our community was impacted by this global pandemic. Read more...

From the Onondaga Historical Association.

Does history repeat itself? As I re-read the cover story of our Spring/Summer 2018 issue of History Highlights magazine titled, “The Great Pandemic of 1918”, I can’t help but think that it does. Thanks to those who documented and preserved that history, we learned from past experience.  That record allows us to  compare the extent and consequences of two pandemics separated by over a hundred years.   

The Spanish Flu pandemic killed more than 900 people in Syracuse from 1918-1920.  The way the world mobilizes to limit the spread of COVID-19 has much to do with what we learned from that crisis.

We continue to fight this new pandemic together by staying apart, and we know from our history that it will eventually end.  How much we learn over the long term depends on how much future generations pay attention to the historical record. 

OHA has preserved our history for nearly 160 years to educate the public in order to craft a better future.  Prior experience teaches us that we can accomplish anything if we work together.  OHA is documenting that effort by collecting newspaper and magazine articles, recordings of the daily briefings from our Mayor and County Executive, and Governor, and the stories that define the impact of the pandemic on daily life. Read more...

From the Greece Historical Society website.

Tell us "your story" of how you are coping with the current coronavirus situation or tell us how your organization is engaging with the community.

As your local historical society, it is our responsibility to record and preserve the history of our Town. If you send us your story, an account of life in Greece (and Charlotte) during this unusual time can then be recorded and preserved in our permanent collection, published in a book, and shared with our libraries and the New York State Historian's Office. We can only do this if you tell us your story.

The stories you tell your friends or share on social media will be impossible to retrieve decades from now, but your written word and/or photographs can be cataloged and retrieved for future generations. Please help us preserve our history of this current crisis.

Email us "your story" and photographs to greecehistoricalsociety@yahoo.com or mail to Greece Historical Society, PO Box 16249, Greece, NY 14616.

From the Geneva Historical Society website.

The Geneva Historical Society’s mission is telling Geneva’s stories. Join us in documenting this historic moment.

What might future historians and generations need to understand the COVID-19 Pandemic? All of us have a story to tell and we invite you to share your story on how the Pandemic is affecting your life. Are you in an at-risk group or have someone in your home who is? How has the stay-at-home order affected you? Do you shop less or use grocery delivery service? What has been your experience at the store? If you eat out regularly, do you continue to get takeout or delivery from those restaurants? If you are on Facebook or Instagram, do you have a favorite meme or post (PG-13) that sums up your experience? For students at home, what has your experience been like? What is your new normal?

Do you have any images, audio, narratives, files, or video documenting your experiences? Examples: photos of empty shelves, church newsletters about cancelled services, or screenshots of online services? Did you have digital meetups or parties, meetings? Screenshots? Do you have photos of closed places, i.e. church signs that say CANCELLED. If so, please be sure to mark the question below and a Historical Society staff member will be in contact with you. Read more...

From the History Center in Tompkins County website.

We are living through one of the most demanding and disturbing times in modern history. The whole world is grappling with the unsettling realities of the Coronavirus outbreak. Tompkins County is no exception, and our community hascompletely restructured in the past month with the goal of protecting our most vulnerable, and slowing down the spread of the virus locally so our local health workers can continue to provide the best care to all patients. Many historians have been comparing the COVID-19 outbreak to the global influenza pandemic of 1918. In this instance however we have an opportunity to better document this pivotal time in our community than we've ever had before.

The History Center in Tompkins County and the Cornell University Archives are collaborating in creating ongoing archival collections related to the impacts of COVID-19. Cornell is focusing on the impacts nationally, while we at The History Center are focusing on the issues locally. To this end we need your help! Read more...

The County Historian is requesting assistance from the public to help document the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Please consider sharing firsthand experiences, images, and reactions on how COVID-19 has altered your life and community. All information gathered will become part of the County Historian's permanent archival collection and made accessible for researchers. Stories and images may also be used for future exhibits. Read more...

From the Dutchess County Historian Office website.

We are living in unprecedented times, the events of which will have a lasting impact on our society for generations to come. Historians often regret the lack of direct eye-witness testimony to such formative events from the past.

We have an opportunity now to collect and preserve this rarest class of historical source for future generations.

There are several ways you can participate in this documentation effort. Read more...

From the Irvington Historical Society website.

The Irvington Historical Society seeks your help in chronicling the extraordinary circumstances we are living through as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Please send personal reflections, stories, and photos that express your response to the crisis. The Society will collect, compile, and preserve your submissions as part of our mission to chronicle the history of the village.

We welcome contributions from villagers of all ages. Your contributions will provide a portrait of Irvington as it faces the challenges of this very complicated time. We plan to share some of your reflections on our website, on social media, and in our newsletter The Roost.

We hope that sharing our thoughts and feelings about this time will bring us together as a community and provide meaningful insight to future generations. Read more...

From the Montgomery Village Museum website.

Today we are living in one of the most defining moments of our lifetime.  The national headlines, cable networks, and social media channels will effectively chronicle the stories and headlines of the day.  However 10, 20 or even 50 years from now, the questions from future generations will become more personal. They will wonder and ask: What was it like for you? How did the community respond? What impact did it have on the village, businesses, schools, churches, family, friends and daily life?

How are you documenting your experience during the COVID-19 pandemic? I know that many village residents are keeping diaries, journals, taking photos etc. Documenting your personal story or even making a few notes each week during this period, can be a wonderful “Stay at Home” activity. Later these documents can be donated, archived, and shared to tell our village story. Read more...

From the Museum of the City of New York website.

For over a century, Museum of the City of New York has been documenting New York City’s stories--dating to its earliest days--regardless of the nature they take.

At any given moment, there are a myriad of stories playing out on our streets, public and private institutions, and in our homes. The Museum wants to share your stories as experienced through the lens of this COVID-19 crisis and related health and government guidelines, arguably one of the most challenging times in New York City history.

MCNY would like to see how the entire city, across all five boroughs, is viewing this moment in our collective history. We invite everyone to share photos—taken from an appropriately socially-distanced perspective—documenting personal experiences during this challenging time. Post those images on Instagram using the hashtag #CovidStoriesNYC, and tag @museumofcityny.

Museum staff will review the images on a rolling basis, selecting images to repost on our social media feed and other digital channels, reflecting on the impact of this event on life in this dense, creative, and resilient city. Read more...

From the New-York Historical Society website.

We are collecting materials related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its sudden, tragic disruption of lives around the world. Future generations will want to understand what it was like to live through this moment. 

To tell that story, we need your help. Consider donating a meaningful item today.

Our focus is on New York and the surrounding region and our goal is to document all aspects of the crisis, including the heroic efforts of healthcare and other essential workers; the experiences of the sick; the effects on businesses, schools, and cultural groups; and the creativity borne of isolation. What items—no matter how modest or mundane—tells the story of the COVID-19 pandemic to you?  Read more...

From the Brooklyn Historical Society website.

Even as we cope with these difficult times, Brooklyn Historical Society is focused on our responsibility to document and preserve the borough’s history. Our collections are the heart of the institution. Through them scholars, students, and individuals from all over the world build knowledge about Brooklyn’s past and present.

Brooklyn Historical Society is actively collecting material related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which is impacting daily life on an unprecedented scale. Our goal is to document and preserve the collective experiences of our community during the crisis, including the health, economic, social, political, and religious impacts of COVID-19 on our borough. With your help, Brooklyn Historical Society will build a collection that reflects the many ways Brooklynites were impacted by, and responded to, this crisis. Read more...

From the Columbia University Archives website.

The University Archives is collecting materials to document the coronavirus pandemic. The University’s official response is being recorded by saving communications, emails, websites and other documents. In addition to these materials, we are inviting faculty, students, alumni, librarians and staff of the university to help us document this crisis. We would like to hear how the Columbia community is experiencing and reflecting on these tumultuous times. We are looking for a diverse set of voices, hearing about your lived experience, and learning about your new everyday lives. Historians of the future will want to know how we spent our days. Read more...

From the Poster House Museum website.

During this harrowing time, as the COVID-19 pandemic ravages New York and the nation, Poster House is committed to supporting our communities by sharing their stories. In January, one community in particular, New York’s Chinatown, had begun to unravel—at first slowly, then with terrifying speed—as both the virus and a concomitant shunning of Chinese restaurants began to take hold. It seemed a sadly auspicious moment for us to focus on this contemporary tale of unprecedented economic hardship, especially as it related, quite coincidentally, to a current exhibition. Read more...

From the Tenement Museum website.

Become a part a new Tenement Museum collection.  

So many of us have stories, passed down through the generations, illustrating our ancestors’ resilience through hardship and often these stories are attached to objects that bring us comfort. As the current crisis becomes a part of our history, will the objects that bring you comfort today become a part of your family’s history? Read more...

In response to these unprecedented times, MOCA invites you to email us at oneworld@mocanyc.org to submit your story, images and video to its OneWorld COVID-19 collection that seeks to document and share the stories of Chinese Americans and the Chinese diaspora resisting coronavirus-fueled hate with incredible acts of compassion and generosity, and creative and artistic expression. ⁣⁣⁣Read more...

This article originally appeared on the New York Public Library website.

The New York Public Library has always been committed to preserving and making accessible the stories that shape our history so that people today, and the next generation of scholars, students, and creators, can better understand our world and each other. We’re experiencing a pivotal moment in our history right now—and we want to hear and preserve your story.

The Pandemic Diaries Project invites you to submit, via an online form, audio recordings of yourself or your loved ones telling personal stories about life amid the COVID-19 pandemic. These audio diaries will be archived in NYPL’s world-renowned research libraries—the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts—to be preserved and made available to future scholars, journalists, students, and the public.

The Pandemic Diaries Project seeks reflections on all kinds of topics, including families and parenting, education and cultural institutions, business and work, essential workers, life in quarantine, #BlackLivesMatter and protests for racial justice, health care and hospitals, trauma and mourning, the recession, mutual aid, art and literature, community organizations, politics, and much more. Read more...

This article originally appeared on the Brooklyn College Journal of the Plague Year website.

Welcome to the Brooklyn College Journal of the Plague Year! We invite members of our Brooklyn College community—current students, staff, and faculty; alumni; and members of our larger borough and city—to share stories and experiences about Covid-19. You can contribute anything you like to this digital archive: personal narratives and family stories; interviews, whether as audio files or transcripts; artwork, music, and photographs; poems and other reflections; fictional accounts, graphic novels, and zines; images, videos, tweets, and other digital objects; Facebook and other social media posts, and Instagram and Snapchat memes; PDFs, screenshots of news reporting; etc. We welcome anything that helps to capture the pandemic and other issues related to this historic moment.

As members of one of the most diverse campuses in the world, students and alumni know struggle better than most, and have important stories to share, about this moment and for the education of future generations. Once you enter your submission to https://covid-19archive.org/s/brooklyncollege/page/share, whether individually, through a course assignment, via a club project, etc., a group of faculty and staff will evaluate your submission and assign key words to it. You will also have the opportunity to sign your name or keep your contribution confidential. Read more...

This article originally appeared on the Queens Memory website.

Help us document the experiences of Queens residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The stories we gather today will become a testament to the struggles and resiliency of the World’s Borough. Read more...

This information originally appeared on the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Archive-It Profile.

This collection centers and documents the African diasporan experiences of COVID-19 including racial disparities in health outcomes and access, the impact on Black-owned businesses, and cultural production. The collection also seeks to document the community impact on New York City through state and local news, and government responses to COVID-19. Read more...

From the Adirondack Experience website.

As the country grapples with stopping the spread of the novel coronavirus, we in the Adirondack community are facing closed businesses and schools, increased demand for medical services, shortages in grocery stores, unemployment, and restrictions on the ways we interact with each other. The pandemic has made changes trivial and profound in each of our lives. The Adirondack Experience is collecting materials that document how Adirondackers are living and working during the crisis. Your photos, objects, and written and recorded stories will help future historians understand this moment in time, and allow us to share with each other as our history unfolds. Read more...

From the Buffalo History Museum website.

We at The Buffalo History Museum are dedicated to discovering and safekeeping the stories of our community. Held within our collections and entrusted to our care are stories of hardship, loss, challenge, and perseverance. As we navigate through these difficult times, we will continue to collect and ensure that the experiences of our community are preserved for later generations.

All lives have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. By recording how the virus has changed our daily life, we can safekeep the stories to provide valuable insight for future generations. Your contributions ensure evidence of this time for future research, reference, projects, exhibits, and programs. Are you keeping a COVID-19 journal? Have you taken a porch portrait of your family? We encourage you to share and donate items to document these experiences. Read more...

From the University at Buffalo University Archives website.

The University Archives is launching a project to encourage students, faculty, and staff to document their personal experiences during the COVID-19 outbreak and contribute them to the University Archives. We acknowledge that this is a time of great uncertainty and stress for members of the UB community. Students have been impacted by great change to their learning environments, living situations, employment, and social connections. Faculty have adapted the ways in which they deliver course materials and interact with students. Staff have adjusted to changes in their work environments, both at home and on campus, all while coping with momentous change in daily routines, family life, and personal health and safety. The University Archives is actively documenting the university’s response to this public health emergency and recognizes the importance of also gathering a record of the community experience. By collecting and preserving these perspectives the University Archives supports the research mission of the university, allowing future students, researchers, and scholars to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, an undoubtedly transformative event in the history of student life and the academic experience at UB. Read more...