COVID-19 MKE: A Milwaukee Coronavirus Digital Archive aims to document how the Milwaukee area experienced the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. It was built by students in Prof. Christopher D. Cantwell’s “Local History Research Methods” class and is hosted by the Golda Meir Library at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. All of the material on the site has beencontributed by members of the greater Milwaukee community.

Any image, story, video, recording, or email that captures something about this moment is an appropriate contribution. Potential submissions include: 

• Photographs of signs on businesses or homes
• Stories of personal isolation or community engagement
• Notifications from employers, organizations, or community officials
• Instances of social distancing; or moments of connection while in isolation
• Images of empty streets or buildings
• Recordings of silence in places once vibrant
• Documentation of the peculiar sights, sounds, and events of a community on quarantine
• Meditations on health, wellbeing, and ability amidst sickness
• Reflection on what the crisis has revealed to you about either yourself or your community

One of the unique features of this moment is how it is unfolding for many of us in isolation. This is why we specifically flagged “emails” as an item we are interested in collecting. Documenting why and how an organization chose to close, stay open, or accommodate this current moment will be of interest to future historians.