Southeast Missouri State University gathering personal stories of pandemic effects

Southeast Missouri State University's Special Collections and Archives is inviting community members to share how the COVID-19 pandemic has turned daily life upside down with submissions to be compiled in a new collection to document this life-changing event for historical posterity. This special digital collection, "Documenting the Pandemic: Stories from Southeast," will be available online in Special Collections' Digital Collections this fall.

"Staff in Kent Library's Special Collections & Archives is trained to collect and preserve primary source materials that document our University and the regional history of Southeast Missouri," said Roxanne Dunn, Special Collections and Archives librarian, in a university news release. "We're stepping outside of that box a little bit by asking people to share these primary sources, or first-hand accounts, of how the pandemic has changed their lives and then deposit those stories and experience with Special Collections & Archives."

Those wishing to submit items -- stories, images and video -- to the collection can upload items with a brief explanation at library.semo.edu/service-areas/special-collections-and-archives/dtpsfs.

In the release, Dunn said she wanted to attempt to capture how the pandemic has drastically altered the landscape both on campus and in the southeast Missouri community. Many archives across the United States are developing similar projects and she said she was inspired by the different ways in which archivists are reaching out to the communities they serve to document their stories.

"I thought we could do something similar and try to capture the stories our Southeast community has to tell," she said. "There are so many ways that life has changed that the Archives wants to try and capture some of that. How has the pandemic changed your educational and University experience and your daily life? Did you move off campus due to COVID-19? What was that experience like? How did you get your personal belongings off campus? We want to know how are things different now. How have students adjusted to online classes? How has going to the grocery store changed? Has anyone been infected or do they know someone who has been infected with COVID-19? What was that experience like? What do you miss most about the pre-pandemic world?"

This is an opportunity for everyone affected by the pandemic to be a primary source in documenting a unique time in people's lives and in history, said Barbara Glackin, dean of Kent Library.

"Individual contributions of Southeast students, faculty, staff and community members to this collection will provide place-in-time, real-world perspectives on what happened and how we coped," Glackin said in the release. "As we move further away from 2020, these individual stories, images and narratives will provide firsthand accounts at what we experienced, what we thought and how we persevered through this challenge. The Collection will document a life-changing event for ourselves and future generations to learn about and learn from."

For more information, contact Dunn at rdunn@semo.edu.