The Geneva (New York) Historical Society’s mission is telling Geneva’s stories.  Join them in documenting this historic moment through We Stayed At  Home: A Record of Geneva During The 2020 Pandemic.

What might future historians and generations need to understand the COVID-19 Pandemic?  Everyone has a story to tell and they 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 a 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?

Share your story through

• Narratives – letter, poem, song, recipes, short story
• Images – photographs, screenshots of social media, memes
• Audio
• Videos
• Files – emails, flyers, announcements, text messages, tweets

Through their Facebook page, Instagram account, blog articles  and this page, they will regularly share submissions to We At Stayed Home.  Some submissions to We At Stayed Home will become part of the Historical Society’s collection.  For more information about the project, contact  Archivist Becky Chapin at archivist@genevahistoricalsociety.com.

Submit your story here.

The Irvington (New York) Historical Society seeks the community’s help in chronicling the extraordinary circumstances all 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.

They 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. They plan to share some of your reflections on their website, on social media, and in their newsletter The Roost.

Sub­mis­sion Guide­lines:

* Send your sub­mis­sions to pres­i­dent@irv­ing­ton­his­tor­i­cal­so­ci­ety.org

Or Irv­ing­ton His­tor­i­cal So­ci­ety, PO Box 23. Irv­ing­ton, NY 10533

* In­clude your sub­mis­sion as an at­tach­ment to your email.

* To send pho­tos, use .jpg and in­clude a cap­tion.

* There is no min­i­mum or max­i­mum word length. Sub­mis­sions may be ex­cerpted or edited, as deemed ap­pro­pri­ate for pro­ject pur­poses.

* By mak­ing a sub­mis­sion, you are grant­ing per­mis­sion for dis­tri­b­u­tion and/​or pub­li­ca­tion by the Irv­ing­ton His­tor­i­cal So­ci­ety

The Oneida County History Center 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 the community was impacted by this global pandemic. Complete the form below to share your experience during this unprecedented time. Want to submit your story vial mail? Download the form at the bottom of the page, print, and send your submission to:

Oneida County History Center
Attn: Lauren Robinson
1608 Genesee Street

What do we want to know? Please use the questions below to get you started.

• ​What’s a typical day like during quarantine?
• How do you fill your time in quarantine?
• How do you stay connected during this period of social distancing?
• Has social distancing and quarantine changed your opinion of social media at all? How?
• Have you noticed changes in your community since the outbreak?
• What has surprised you most?
• Do you have any tips to make this time more enjoyable?
• When the crisis is over, what do you hope for yourself, your community, your country, or the world?
• Is there anything else you would like to add that hasn’t already been asked above?​

Visuals are welcome! Please label images with location and date. Upload and submit with the form below or email to lrobinson@oneidacountyhistory.org. Please use the subject line ‘My COVID story, your name’.

The Schenectady County Historical Society is calling on community members to help document local experiences of 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. Help us, by:

• Contributing to a global collection: https://covid19.omeka.net/
• Share your story using our form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeHgEsVMdH6NBHjFKx_QxVwa5_H4rZSKIQ71e_XkjhfWMeiXg/viewform
• Creating a personal diary, scrapbook, or photo album (analog/physically or digitally)
• Collecting the letters, emails, and notes that you’ve created or received to stay in touch or communicate with others during this difficult time of isolation

The COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact is an on-going, changing situation. It will take time to document how we are all affected. If you have questions about ways you can contribute to the SCHS archive collection, or about documenting your experiences, contact the SCHS librarian, Marietta Carr, at librarian@schenectadyhistorical.org

The Montgomery Village Museum in Montgomery, New York, is collecting the stories of local residents about living through the Coronavirus pandemic. 

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? 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. 

Right now, you can also contribute to our history by completing a survey, developed by the Association of Public Historians of New York State. The survey will be used to collect stories from throughout New York State. The form is set up so submissions directly feed into a special Google email folder that was set up for this project. Once the crisis and the collecting period have ended, the APHNYS will share the responses with each local historian.

If you would like to participate in the survey, please click on the link below.

VILLAGEOFMONTGOMERY.ORG/COVID-19ARCHIVES

You can respond once or multiple times as you have new information to share.

I optimistically look forward to the day when we open our museum doors and begin the healing process of collecting your heartfelt personal stories of sacrifice, commitment, and devotion to community that inspired all of us all through this challenging time.

Keep Everyone Healthy. Please Stay at Home.
Brian Fitzpatrick, Village Historian
historian@villageofmontgomery.org