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2020-08-10
It is human nature to ignore somethings over others through the application of selective attention. According to human psychology, we tend to focus on information that we think matters more while ignoring the presumed irrelevant details. The same applies to colors. They are flamboyant, bringing out the best, most salient parts of objects. However, they are merely as alluring without the shades, the easily ignored parts that make objects pop. If you were to ask me before the pandemic COVID-19, what the utensil that produces shades means to me, I’d probably tell you schoolwork. It means working on an assignment in Spanish class, drafting an artwork for art class. It’s something that blends into my life, something so easily accessible that I had ignored. COVID-19 inspired me to expand my selective attention, giving me an opportunity to deal with my personal crisis. It allowed me to realize the importance of shades.
Pencils are typical. They have long and narrow bodies, a burgundy pinkish eraser on the top, and a greyish carbon tip. It’s everywhere, in school, stores, houses…So obtainable that people tend to disregard its essentiality. Before the COVID crisis, I use a pencil mostly under instructions: “use a pencil to darken circles for this section”, “please use a pencil to do the annotations”, “always draft your artwork with a pencil”. It had been an object that I associate with obligations and restraints.
I enjoy socializing and being in crowded locations. Deep down, I know that spending time with others provides me an excuse to not face “me”. Being accompanied by technology since my early childhood, it’s easy to feel lost and hollow when I’m idling around; when I’m truly alone with myself. I didn’t like being with myself because I know I would overthink. So, I used to go out whenever I could. It is a personal crisis that I have avoided and procrastinated on fixing. Coincidentally, the pandemic happened, and I was forced to quarantine in my house, with me.
As a member of Generation Z, I spent most of the first two months immersed in technology: Tik Tok, Instagram, and YouTube. I used all my time absorbing useless information online, to fill the emptiness I feel from lack of social stimuli. Until one day when I was spacing out at my desk, thinking which information dump to go to next, I noticed my pencil lying on the table. I picked it up, with nothing in mind, I started scribbling on a piece of paper. The products are in all forms, intersecting with each other but not showing any outline of specific objects. They are abstracts piled together.
It struck me as I realized the freeing side of pencil. When you press it on to the paper lightly, the shade that comes out is lighter, and vice versa. I understood that I have control over the pencil and over what I want to do. Not some structured art assignment that tells me to have a meaning in my artwork, to go with the norms of art. It’s a language of my own. When I see the overcrowded lines, I feel the noisiness; when I see spaced lines, I feel the indifference and coldness. That day, I spent the entire afternoon scribbling and looking at lines and shapes that I had created with a pencil. A language is forming.
Being focused on my “language”, I registered my change as I started tuning out my anxious and overthinking self. I am feeling the present, because every single line, is controlled by me. I need to stay focused on expressing my feelings through lines. One might ask why I wouldn’t write journals instead, that way I can articulate my feelings more intentionally. But writing is restrained, you have grammatical and spelling structures to follow. There are so many rules to adhere to in order to let the future you look back and be able to understand what the present you are trying to say. That’s exhausting.
I started to use pencil to scribble every day before I go to bed. It’s refreshing, almost like a personal space where I express all my feelings that I’ve experienced in the day. Through utilizing my pencil, I can appreciate the beauty in gradient of shades, the beauty of my consciousness. I consider penciling the medium that allows me to connect with myself and be more aware of my thoughts and feelings. Even though pencil can only produce monochromatic colors, they mean color to me. It is my form of communication with myself.
I’ve been out with my friends several times after quarantine. But now, I no longer feel the constant need to be accompanied by someone to be distracted from my thoughts. I’ve learned how to respect my personal space and alone time. A clear line between my “me time” and my socializing times is established. This change for me is immaculate as I change the lens I use to see the world in, but this time, with more self-consciousness with it. Pencil helped me comprehend the importance of self-acceptance and appreciation of the unnoticeable things in life. It made me more conscious of my surrounding as I continuously try to seek things that I’ve taken for granted or have ignored. It freed me from my personal crisis, giving color to my world through shades.
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2020-10-03
I am submitting this article because it speaks in a broader sense the sort of experiences people with ADHD have/will continue to have during the pandemic. It writes of the intersections of ADHD and the coronavirus, such as how remote learning and working can lead to decreased motivation and increased social isolation can be expected to increase other symptoms of ADHD along with feelings of depression and anxiety at levels that neurotypical people may not experience.
Rather than collecting multiple small objects that speak to a single aspect of neurodiversity and the pandemic, and potentially overwhelming the archive with repetitive, kitschy documents that may in the future confuse the research process, I wanted to include a single document that spoke broadly of what life is like with ADHD during the pandemic.
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2020-11-19
I am submitting this object because a very common symptom of neurodiversity is hyperfixation, and with the increased amount of time spent in the house, many people, including my dad are more free to spend hours upon hours doing the tasks stimulating tasks. An aspect of hyperfixation is the way it can “turn on” and “off” at seemingly random times, so for my dad, over the past 9 months, he began writing a novel, which he has 80 thousand words in, but is as yet unfinished, he then moved on to creating card and board games, complete with art and promotional material. Throughout quarantine, he has fixated and his health, and took up running. His most recent fixation is music, writing lyrics and music on a modular synthesizer.
This object could be helpful in providing an example of how people with ADHD kept themselves stimulated through quarantine, as well as how their minds often flit from one project to the next, depending on how interesting or rewarding it seems at the time.
It was also important to me to contribute this item because much of the time ADHD is only focused on children, so adding this object to the collection works to give representation to the many adults with ADHD who are working as well as trying to adjust to life during the pandemic. Sean Bateman (Provided screenshots and pictures) and Megan Bateman (made collage)
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2020-12-13
Being in quarantine with a toddler can be isolating, They don’t understand you like other adults do, their vocabulary is growing, but mainly you hear, “mama” all day. So I found a community. I found other moms in my position. I wrote posts and engaged in conversation. I asked them about their experiences during this pandemic. I heard stories of despair, of growth, or isolation. I remember them now and always will. COVID-19 has caused a lot of distress for mothers across the world; losing those few hours out of the house, interacting with other adults, being able to forget the toys strewn about the house and the magic marker on the walls. So we found a community. We talk about our children, our families, the things we miss, the changes we’ve had to make, the things we can’t wait to do and we found solace in the comfort of each other. Even if we’ve never meet in real life; during the pandemic, we found a community.
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2020-12-02
I am submitting this object as an example of how some people with ADHD struggle with self-motivation and how they create workarounds for this. This is a photo from the wall next to my desk. Taped up are daily to-do lists for the next couple of days, a monthly calendar so I don’t get so caught up in the details of something I lose sight of larger projects and due dates, as well as random reminders. This method has been useful for me because it is not only repetitive, which helps me to remember goals and dates, which is important since memory issues are common with ADHD, but it also provides a form of motivation for me. Scratching tasks off of a to-do list, even if it is something simple like “eat lunch” helps me to stay engaged with my required tasks throughout the day.
This object speaks to the ways that many college students and young adults are trying to learn how to live on their own, while also going without much of the support from professors, friends, and family they could have had due to the restrictions put in place to stop the spread of the virus.
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2020-12-09
“School is very difficult for me online, as I don't have access to the resources I would if I were attending school physically. I cannot get the extra help I need, and without someone supervising me I'm forgetful and less likely to get my assignments in.” -Mary Harrigan
I am submitting this object, along with Mary’s reasoning behind sending me this screenshot because it shows the ways that the education system is overwhelmed in trying to transition to remote forms of learning, which is, in turn, leaving behind many neurodiverse students. While the environment at home may be a bit more comfortable for Mary due to better control of external stimuli, they still don’t have access to the accommodations they need as an autistic student in high school.
This object also shows the overwhelming nature of online schooling, and how the technologies we use to help in remote learning oftentimes cause more stress to the student because the reminder of how much work they have is constant: it is on their phones which they carry with them everywhere. Additionally, Mary is Autistic and Nonbinary, Both of these identities are not typically represented within historical records. and I think it's important that their experiences be preserved within this archive.
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2020-12-15
This holiday season barely feels like the holidays at all. With so many families struggling to stay afloat during these trying times, Christmas seemed to take a back seat this year. Not in a negative sense, but in the way that people just simply can’t afford gifts or afford to be joyful. It’s hard, not working and raising children. Christmas is the time of year where you buy your little ones gifts and celebrate all the happiness of the year. Not during COVID, mothers are struggling, fathers are struggling and children don’t understand how tight money is. So this Christmas, promise to make the day more rememberable; even if the gift are lacking. Fill the day with love, happiness and relax a little. The material items will break and be thrown away, the children will outgrow them, but they will never forget the love they felt on Christmas Day during COVID.
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2020-12-09
I am submitting this image of a friend’s empty energy drink collection because it is indicative of how some people with ADHD use caffeine to deal with their symptoms when medication is inaccessible. Grim is not currently in a position to get the sort of support they need for their ADHD because of the pandemic, so they have taken a gap year from school and are working in the meantime. This is a small part of the collection of empty cans they have from the daily energy drink they have to help them function at home and work.
Not many people know how hard it is to get support for ADHD as an adult, especially as someone who was assigned female at birth, so this object serves to show the ways that some neurodiverse people cope, especially now that Covid has made it that much harder and daunting to get non-emergency related doctor’s appointments.
This object shows the ways medical care has changed due to the virus, fear keeping people from going in and hospitals and clinics being overwhelmed with people and unable to provide as much care as they once could. It also shows how the pandemic interrupted or changed the plans of many students to continue their education.
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2020-12-14
John Mello runs a small local flower shop that has been providing flowers to the local community for years. When the pandemic hit, quarantine was a major adjustment for John’s business. Customers who regularly came in for celebratory gifts, flowers prom, and wedding flowers, no longer came in at their usual rate. As a result, John’s business slowed. This flower represents the fragile life of a local business, and how without the consistent type of attention it needs, like water and sunlight, it will die just as quickly as a flower.
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2020-11-13
I am submitting this article because my collection while trying to center neurodiversity, seems to be leaning pretty heavily towards ADHD. This article follows the experiences of 5 different autistic students with school and the pandemic. This article also speaks to the work universities have put in to better accommodate their neurodiverse students through programs that center them and their need for different approaches to education.
In submitting this article, I hope that it provides greater clarity that neurodiverse people are not a monolith of the same symptoms and experiences, but rather lead different lives that have all been individually affected by the pandemic. It is important that the collection has many different perspectives within it so that future researchers don’t confuse a single experience with a universal one.
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2020-12-05
It’s tough having the world you known flipped upside down, for so many mothers during the pandemic, their entire way of living has been altered. A change from clocking into work every day to getting up to sit with their children for remote learning. It was trading in their work uniforms for sweat pants and unbrushed hair. It’s changed from keeping record of their timesheets to scrolling the endless Facebook feeds in their only hour alone every day. However, it’s beautiful to watch your child grow. To see their face light up every morning while you exhaustedly make a cup of coffee and try to prepare yourself for a day of raising your children. It’s amazing to see them learn a new word or conquer their math homework without your help. It’s being able to make them home cooked meals, even if they are just grilled cheese and soup. Amidst all of the craziness COVID has caused, we get to be there to witness our children grow and for that, there’s something to be grateful for.
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2020-12-02
I live in a hot spot. I receive texts from my municipal and the Massachusetts government at least once a week. The cases rise daily and the death toll is worrisome. I’m raising my child in a hot spot. I can’t go back to work without the worry that I might bring home a virus that can kill my child. When you get pregnant, there is a lot of anxiety about bringing a life into this world, but no one could have imagined that come 2020, there would be a global pandemic, a virus that we don’t know all the symptoms and a death toll growing daily in our country. I live in a hot spot. I can’t go outside without my mandated mask, social distancing and limited number of people in stores. I cannot see my friends or my distance family. I can’t bring my son to the park or the library, they’re all closed down. I’m being safe. I’m doing my best, but I cannot change that i live in a hot spot.
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2020-12-15
Jackson Brockenbrough, Jdagiver Production, explained in a verbal interview that as a direct result of COVID his inspirational has been effected. Lack of city life has made it more difficult for him to tap into his creativity. The dullness within the current state of the world translates into his work as many artist are effected by the their life and surroundings as a source of inspiration. Jackson continued explaining that even though this time is more difficult to produce music, he has a responsibility as a producer during COVID. For example the world utilizes music as an outlet to express and feel emotions of such as emotions of fear and frustration that COVID induces.Jacksons has also been faced with the difficulty of individuals being unable to contribute to sessions like they did prior to job restrictions because of COVID. Jackson’s story explains how an entrepreneur faces not only individuals struggling, and competition but also effected by the economic state of his consumers too.
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2020-12-13
The mask controversy takes on a new light when you are raising a toddler during a pandemic. My son is too young to wear a mask, he is too young to protect himself and I have to depend on others to wear their masks to protect him. From March until late August, my son only traveled from his home to my parents house, a three minute walk up the street. He did not have outside contact with anyone out of his immediate family. Until one day, I had to take him grocery shopping with me and a new world of worry became very obvious.
I understand people wanting to practice their constitutional rights, but I don’t think it applies to wearing a mask. Wearing a mask doesn’t protect you, it protects those around you. For those of us, struggling to be parents and having to bring out under two year olds out, PLEASE WEAR A MASK. You can have your right to freedom of speech and everything else, but when it comes to protecting those little humans you walk by and don’t think much of, your germs can harm them. We don’t have a choice to mask our babies because of suffocation, but you, you can wear a mask and help us protect them.
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2020-12-15
Ma’s Donuts owner Valdemar Leite exemplifies that running a business during COVID has presented new issues and frustrations with an invoice of past and present prices of gloves. Valdemar explained during a video interview that this image proves factories and other business are struggling to conduct their business with limited staff. These companies may even raise their prices in order to compensate with the current state of COVID however this greatly effects small business. The changes of price and product that manufactories afford can limit menus and unlike other business such as restaurants who can adjust their menus more frequently so that it is more profitable to them. A current solution to this issue that Ma’s Donuts is hoping to impose according to owner Valdemar Leite is new electronic menu boards that will make it easier for them to establish daily differences in their menu.
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2020-12-09
Unfortunately most to all homeless people do not have health care meaning if for some reason they got infected by covid, they would not be able to get tested nor treatment to due the lack of insure . Homeless people often use others peoples belongings for survival leading to many homeless people contracting the disease without the correct medical care which became fatal to their lives.
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2020-12-13
This report done by the Center for American Progress really opened my eyes to the way mothers have been affected by the pandemic. For so many mothers, the pandemic forced them to choose between supporting their family by working, or leaving the workforce to become stay at home parents. For myself, I had no other choice than to become a stay at home mother because of the closing of schools and childcare. My son is a toddler, before pandemic he attended a private childcare two days a week and spent the other three with family members so I could work. By the quarantine in March, my job had “closed for the foreseeable future” and my son no longer could visit his family due to the risks. As most of the population has, mothers have made sacrifices this entire pandemic, they have struggled to provide, given up the little time away from home they had and stepped into numerous different roles to ensure their children are safe, cared for and learning. Now, I question if there could’ve been more help for the mothers around the country when the pandemic hit? Could the government relieved some of the stress of losing an income? Why was it a choice between money and the lives of their children?
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2002-12-15
Chelsea Campbell explains in a textual conversation that small business struggle with both competitors such as small and big business. Small businesses have been emerging since COVID-19 has begun as a solution for those who have been laid off from their jobs. Chelsea helps to explore the idea that although this is amazing for the small business community it makes it harder for other competitors. Additionally, larger business are able to work around issues that smaller business face such as large shipping cost and difficulty receiving products as they the money and ability to resolve more issues then someone who is attempting to compete with those same standards. Chelsea explain although there is always more room for creativity and entrepreneurship she has had to adjust tactics to become more competitive with other brands even if this is a direct sacrifice for her business.
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2020-12-09
we've all been able to shop at our convince with no troubles until covid. Now shopping isn't as simple as It was before. Now we are urged to wear face protection, a certain number of customers are only allowed in at a certain time, creating long lines out side of the shopping establishments. The severity of covid was at an all time high closing most to all retail stores, leaving open the essential need stores, such as grocery, convenience and pharmacies.
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2020-09-03
The pandemic has been hard for a lot of my family members, including myself. I decided to interview one of my cousins, Julie, who has been hit one of the hardest by the coronavirus. She is very nervous because of her father’s health. I have not seen her since the summer because of her quarantining for the last couple months. She answers the question, “How has the pandemic affected you personally and your visiting with family?.
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2020-12-08
Whether it be a sports game, musical or concert, its not happening in person during covid. Covid has made social distancing a top priority, meaning that huge gatherings in confined spaces probably won't work. Sports events including the NBA & NHL took the route in keeping there players safe from the disease by implementing the "bubble" which ultimately isolated the players from all contact except for games and practices. No concerts are in session as well as musicals, they can be shown virtually on the other hand.
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2020-12-16
Everyone has a mask these days and they are all so unique or plain. Suffolk created their own mask along with a few other styles that students could buy. It is easier to recognize suffolk students when wearing these masks. It is cool to see Suffolk step up and be a part of the pandemic and create new things for their students. Us athletes got a separate mask, seen in the second photo, it is called a gaitor. A lot of the athletes would wear them walking or at practice/in the gym. It separates the athletes from the regular students. Suffolk wanted to be a part of this history so they created these masks. These objects are important to Suffolk’s history through the pandemic and how they chose to help their students out. This is also significant in the year 2020 because everyone was designing their own masks and it was cool to see how all of the colleges and universities came together to create their own masks and contribute to today’s history.
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2020-12-15
Sydney Sousa is a trained artist who has been been directly effected by Covid-19 frustrations as a small business who trying to stay afloat. As an attempt to help conserve money during this difficult time Syd has resorted to cutting open and scrapping the last bit of paint within her tubes. As a small business its hard to buy in bulk as you may not need that much product at ones however it is often cheeper this way, especially with a decrease in sales during COVID-19, its been difficult to manage money. Similarly, as a business she experienced frustrations with new regulations such as store hours or limited products because of limited manufactory. Syd expressed that not only is this a tool she uses to save money but also time as sometimes she most be creative to create solutions to problems COVID-19 presented her.
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2020-12-16
This search really opened my eyes to all of the colleges that are not division I and how they are marginalized. I read an article from the ncaa explaining all of the covid guidelines and regulations regarding all of the different schools. Division I schools are still allowed to play but it was postponed due to Covid rather than lower division schools' seasons getting cancelled and their championships. All of the hard work that athletes train for and they don’t get to show how they’ve grown but division I athletes get to go further with their passion for sports. This is important to me because my team is directly related to this topic of not being able to play and having everything still up in the air while division I schools are allowed to participate. This is important to archivists showing the discrepancies regarding different level school along with the sports that are allowed to play.
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2020-12-09
as April as covid was trending upwards becoming more of a concern I decided to get tested along with my father. Knowing the virus is such wide spread and many people would be getting testing they would have a fast functioning and safe testing center, this is not always the case. Typically you would find yourself in a Long line with many others waiting about 30-1hr to first get seen than tested. most people would not abide by the social distancing rules, get to close to each other in line.
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2020-12-16
These photos were taken during the pandemic at our practices. As you can see, we are all wearing masks in the photo along with there only being a few of us in each of them. This really shows the differences between before and after Covid. There are no pictures of team events because we weren’t allowed to do anything with more than 10 people so we were on zoom a lot of the time for meetings and team things like study hall. This was a hard time for all of us and not being together through it all, a few people quit and stayed home so it was extremely different from times before everything happened. It was difficult to keep the mask on and breathing was quite hard as well, we took many socially distanced breaks to get a drink and pull our masks down for a minute or so. This is important to understand how different sports were throughout before the pandemic versus while we are in it and trying to figure out different solutions to problems. Every team had to go through the same thing we did with masks and social distancing and cleaning properly but it just adds to more about Suffolk Softball and how captured the moments throughout the pandemic which is important to archives.
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2020-12-16
Our coaches asked the team to take a video of ourselves doing something with a softball. TikTok is a huge app in our generation and it is filled with popular videos and people. It is a very significant part of this generation's history and we wanted to be a part of that by creating this video and posting to our social media pages, along with TikTok. Within the video, one of my teammates is cleaning the softball with disinfectant spray which is what life has come to during the pandemic and that is what softball teams were doing during the summer. This video shows our team coming together during the pandemic and still somehow being a team during this crazy time. This is an object that an archivist can collect that relates directly to our generation along with an authentic view of Suffolk softball. As an archivist, they look for authenticity and unique objects that have meaning which is what this object represents.
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2020-12-08
It was my senior year, school was seemingly fine until the virus hit. At first we were all out of school without a learning plan. As a week or so went by schools all over the US began to use Zoom. Zoom is a virtual classroom environment that allows teachers to easily share their screen as well as their assignment plans virtually from anywhere with an internet connection.
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2020-12-16
All of these photos were taken after our last game of the trip along with the last of our season. We found out our season was cancelled the day before and our coaches planned all of this in a day. Also two of our coaches who stayed in Boston flew all the way down to Florida to watch our last day of games and experience it all with us. It was crazy and overwhelming. The game before the last one got cut short because the other team’s coach got a call from their school saying they need to come back immediately because of Covid. This is when we knew it was real and it was over for real. It was a lot of sadness and the seniors did not want to go out like that. Every single senior athlete went through this same thing at every college and high school, all around the country. These photos give the viewer a personal aspect of Suffolk softball and how we dealt with it along with some words that our coach wrote in one of the Instagam posts. It allows historians to look back at how the pandemic affected athletes and maybe compare Suffolk softball to other schools and look at the timeline of before, finding out, and during the pandemic. These images are important to this archive because it is directly related with what is going on today and if people wanted to learn about this then there should be some sort of information on it because there are very little personal stories about athletics.
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2020-12-11
Corona was definitely hard for many families with health problems. I feel as though it was also difficult for families with people on the frontlines of the virus. My mother is a nurse at a local hospital. Because of her job, none of my family members and/or friends wanted to be around me. She works in the ICU so she is dealing with Covid positive patients constantly. Her journal entries include how she felt while working her job as well as how it affected her family-wise.
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2020-12-16
These photos represent what softball at Suffolk was all about before the COVID pandemic started. As a team, we did everything together and that was normal and we did not have to wear masks and socially distance. We did Christmas events together and team Thanksgiving and it allowed us to really bond as a team and have that comradery every team looks for. We also went on the annual spring trip to Florida to play softball and our coach planned fun events throughout the two weeks we were there. But it all ended so fast because Covid hit and that made our trip end differently than ever imagined. These photos are good for future historians to look at to be able to compare to suffolk softball before the pandemic versus after. Photos make it more realistic and really give people a look as to what we did as a team. This is important to this archive because people can relate to it along with using this information to research further.
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2020-12-14
Brie Breyer is an example of a person inspired by the stillness of Covid who has been able to compete with her creative side for the skills and opportunities to become an entrepreneur. Brie has begun briecrafts on instagram which is a store dedicated to homemade jewelry and furniture handcrafted. Brie has explained that the break in that COVID provided her allowed her to explore her creative being by learning tools that she already possessed. Brie’s motto is discover by doing, not only has she developed new techniques and enquired skills but also discover a new passion. Although Brie is unsure of her future possibilities she expressed greatly that she feels a sense of accomplishment discovering this new ability.
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2020-08-13
With social distancing measures out in place when having gatherings, it is difficult to spend time with family and friends. During the pandemic, my distant family members and I decided to light a fire in the firepit located in my backyard with 6 feet in between us. We talked about what each of us have been doing during quarantine and ate delicious food made by others. This fire pit was used multiple times during the pandemic but for the same reasons. The only downfall of using this firepit for visits is that it can only be used in the warmer weather. I feel as though this photo is a necessity for a covid-19 collection. It shows what families go through to be near each other in this part of the country/world.
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2020-12-15
Siena is a prime example of students who are graduating from Universities and are faced with the struggle of finding a job during the pandemic. As a direct response to the lack of job opportunities, Siena has been able to create her own business, despite her film major, in up-cycle fashion. This archival entry presents a realistic and current solution for the generation graduating during the Pandemic, Evaluating their creative ability and applying it to be a possible source of income. Although Siena is still working to make this a sustainable income, she has had the luxury over quarantine to persistently pursue her business. Siena also explained that because she has been pursuing this craft and attempted to make her way within this business she feels as though she has never actually graduated and she has not receive the stereotypical school to work force opportunities.
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2020-06-17
During the beginning of the pandemic which was considered to be the worst of it, my grandfather had passed away after years of battling dementia. Only a select few could attend the wake and funeral. My aunts and uncles as well as the grandchildren attended. It was very difficult keeping the 6 foot distance between one another during such a sad moment in time. This photograph is my family and I after the funeral. You'll notice that none of us were wearing masks at this point. This photo captured the very last time I ever saw my family all together in person. This photo shows how bad the virus got over the last couple months in the South Shore of Massachusetts.
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12/14/2020
I interviewed my boss, Ted, who is the owner of Loretta in Newburyport. I asked him a few questions of what he had to change since the pandemic began. Before I started asking him questions, I made sure he was okay with me recording and then posting this on the Covid-19 archive. Ted was given guidelines from the CDC and the government for what he had to change, and he was the one who had to implement them, which was challenging. This will benefit people looking back at 2020 because they will hear how we had to change from the perspective of a small business owner, which doesn’t happen very often. Small businesses are often silenced by larger chain companies since they are more well known. From this interview though, people will see how Ted really cares about the restaurant and keeping it open for the guests.
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2020-11-27
The pandemic has been hard for all close families. Mine was not able to see each other much at all due to quarantine and most of my family members having major health problems. Due to the fact that my family was not able to spend time together in person, my cousins and I decided to play games over Zoom together. My laptop was very helpful with doing this and was a necessity to keep in touch with family members.
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2020-12-13
When restaurants were allowed to open again, Loretta created outdoor dining for guests. When it got colder, heaters were put up, and blankets and seat warmers were offered. People have really liked the outdoor seating, not only because it is safer to eat outside, but because they also like to watch people, as I have learned from guests. I think that outdoor seating will increase in the future, and people will come to enjoy it more than indoor dining. Outdoor dining was already popular before the pandemic, but perhaps one day when people look at the past, they will notice how much outdoor dining continued even after the pandemic.
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2020-12-09
This is a little bit about how I feel while working in a restaurant during Covid. It has been an interesting experience, and I have learned a lot of lessons both from working with the public in general, but also working with the public specifically during a pandemic. I haven’t been able to see my friends that much since the pandemic began, so working in the restaurant has helped because it gets me out of the house and working towards a goal of getting an apartment with my friends, from the money I'm saving up. This journal entry demonstrates something significant to my generation because while we might not be able to see friends, people can focus on themselves and work hard whether it be at school, work or both. Some people have seen their friends, and met up at Loretta for lunch outside, and this has been a way to catch up in a safer way. My journal entry focuses on what I have seen while working, the way people have acted when they come out to eat or pickup their takeout. This is important to me because it is my own words and observations from the past couple of months.
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2020-12-01
While in quarantine during this pandemic, my family and I were forced to spend much time together. We often wondered what we could do to make the time pass while most of us were out of work because of Covid-19. My family members and I, as well as my neighbors who we were quarantining with, decided that it would be a fun idea to start playing board games. These games consisted of Monopoly, What Do You Meme, and Cards Against Humanity. Playing these games brought my family closer together while fighting through a tough time in life.
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2020-12-06
One of the ways that Loretta has been able to thrive is through takeout. People will call in or place orders online, and can either come in to grab their food, or pull up at curbside pickup. Takeout has been a way that people are able to support a local business during this time, and to get out of their house in a safe way. I think that future historians will find this interesting in order to learn how restaurants used takeout as a way to stay open during the pandemic, and as a way to comfort people in the community, to let them know that we are still here. Recently, we have been offering delivery if people live close enough to the restaurant.
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2020-12-06
I started working at Loretta, a restaurant located in Newburyport MA, in the middle of July. One of the most important things they told me to do (besides wear a mask,) was to sanitize everything. We have to wipe down the tables, chairs, pens, drink menus, receipt books and everything else you can think of. This is important to do because while we try to limit what people touch, they still touch everything, because that is what humans do. This will be important for future historians because it will show how much work is done behind the scenes that we have to do as workers in a restaurant. It will show how much cleaning increased in the year of 2020.
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2020-12-06
Instead of using reusable menus, to limit what people are touching, Loretta created scannable and paper menus for guests to use. Guests can scan the code on the paper provided, and a link pops up to bring people to the restaurants menu. This is an important part of the pandemic, because people are encouraged not to touch everything they see, so by limiting what people are touching, Loretta has limited the spread of potential germs. When future historians look back on restaurants during the pandemic, they will see how a lot of establishments created scannable menus for their guests. Some people have a difficult time with the snanable menus, which is why the paper menu is offered. People are typically eager to learn how to use the scan menus though, sometimes out of frustration for it not working, but also because of the growing popularity of scanning items with phones.
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2020-12-06
This is what it looks like for indoor dining at the restaurant Loretta in Newburyport, MA. There are less tables in the dining room and they are all spaced out at least 6 feet with tablecloths on them. Indoor dining has been a controversial activity during the pandemic, with people going out but experts warning against it. Loretta has made sure to keep safe distances with the tables and guests are also required to wear facemasks if they stand up. In the future, historians can look back and see how we maintained a safe dining experience throughout this pandemic.
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2020-06-02
This item was important because this instagram was used to organize the Black Lives Matter march that took place on June 5th in Wethersfield. The account also created the “Grievances From the Members of Our Community” list. I think this item is important because this entire instagram, these documents, and most importantly, the protest/march were created by people I used to know back in high school and even before then. This shows that our/my generation is far more involved in activism than most other generations have, as you see and hear a lot more younger people have been taking part in these protests, and being more vocal on social media. This instagram is also a good public digital history project as it allowed members of the community to share their own stories and experiences.
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2020-12-02
I decided to include this into the collection because I believe that it would be unethical to exclude the “opposing side”. The “Back the Blue” movement is a sort of counter-movement created against the calls to “defund the police”. ‘Back the Blue’ is also often referred to as ‘Blue Lives Matter’ or ‘Thin Blue Line’. I felt that this was necessary to include opposing viewpoints, as not to completely dismiss them from existing, which would be unethical, and future historians who look back onto 2020 will also find out about this counter movement and the reason why it was formed, which allows them to fully grasp the environment of our times.
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2020-06-02
This is a sign that was put at the door of a historical building in Old Wethersfield, shortly following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The killing of George Flyod, more specifically, the recording, are what caused the widespread Black Lives Matter protests over the summer. To me, this image is important for the archive because it shows the significance of this event in 2020, because it shook the world, not even just the US, and that support for the movement and support for justice is being called for from ~1.3k miles away. The video was spread over social media, which allowed for it to reach that level of audience that it was exposed to.
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2020-07-03
This tweet is referring to an incident that occurred when the Wethersfield Historical Society put out a Facebook message about how a Black Lives Matter poster was taken down from their building by a town employee, and how they are an apolitical institution. They mentioned they kept the poster for their own archives, however the backlash came at their wording about being ‘political’ and how Black Lives Matter isn’t a political movement, it is a human rights issue. This item is really interesting, as the historical society is preserving the poster to fill archival silences, and keep a record of current events, however, they are faced with backlash from people who believe that they are not being ethical due to them trying to hide the exposing of human rights violations, which is one of the roles in being an ethical archivist.
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2020-07-16
This item/document is an example of how my generation is attempting to make change in society. This document is a collection of grievances and injustices that people faced throughout their years in the Wethersfield school district. This document was submitted to the superintendent of schools and Wethersfield High School administration. I think this item exemplifies multiple criteria because it gives a voice to marginalized groups and their mistreatment in the school system, it was a project undertaken by young student activists, and it could lead to possible changes in the future.
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2020-08-08
This sign is important because it is the main focus of my entire project and archive. Signs have become a major part of this pandemic, whether they are signs promoting a social message (such as this one), one supporting healthcare workers, or signs that are just motivational, signs have become the way of spreading hope and awareness during the pandemic. This item falls under the criteria of showing future historians a significant moment in the year 2020, as the entirety of the summer consisted of Black Lives Matter protests. The Black Lives Matter movement also was a way for the voices of black people to be amplified and speak up against police brutality and injustice.
