COVID-19 Time Capsule

COVID-19 Time Capsule Project

COVID-19, known as the "coronavirus" has changed our lives. We are all being impacted in different ways during this time period. Whether we are staying at home or working on the front lines we all have something we can contribute to recording history.  For the few weeks we are going to focus our energy on creating content for Time Capsules created by museum websites. 

What is a Time Capsule?

Springfield, Oregon Time Capsule, Wikimedia
Springfield, Oregon Time Capsule, Wikimedia

A time capsule is a container where people put important items from a time period. These are often buried in the ground so that future generations can learn about important events through these preserved items. The goal is to show what life was like for people during a particular time period.

Building a COVID-19 time capsule allows us to take some time and think like historians. Instead of learning about history from the perspective of others we will record history from ours.

 We are going to help to record history through Virtual Time Capsules. Instead of creating a physical time capsule that we will bury in the ground we will collect images of things or events that are important to us during this time period.

What Should I Do?

You are going to be a historian! You are tasked with recording the history of the COVID-19 pandemic from your perspective. People in the future can learn about the pandemic from the perspective of people in your neighborhood. 

  1. For the first task I want you to go around your house/the space you have been living in and take pictures of items/documents that would help explain what it is like to live during this time period. Imagine a historian finding these pictures 50 years from now while writing a book about the pandemic. What are the items that stand out to you?
  2. For the second task, I want you to look through images you have taken during the stay at home time period. If you don't know when it started, a good starting point to think about is when New York State's schools closed down to now. If you have any relevant photos from before that point please include them as well. Start looking at your camera roll from March 11 until now. Find photos that you took during that time period that you think a historian might be interested in. Think about these question while looking at your photos: What photos represent my experience during this time period?; If I were to look at these photos in 30 years, which photos would spark a memory for me
  3. Upload those photos to your computer or to Google Drive from your phone. Gather those photos in a single folder. You could also put them on one Google Doc to make the rest of this task easier. We will be using these photos to write our own history and create a group time capsule. Ensure that your photos are of items, pets, or adults (ensure you have their permission to share their photos). I cannot share images of students on this website. Take some time today to think about what these images say about this time period. 
  4. Create a title for each image. 
  5. Write a 1 sentence description for each image. 

Examples

I have included some of my example photos below so you can get an idea for what you might take a picture of. Get creative! My experience may be very different from yours and we want a diverse representation of experiences!

Submitting Your Images

If we were in a classroom together I would ask you to submit images to me or bring them into class. However, in this remote/open setting I am going to encourage you to share your submissions with the Buffalo History Museum which is collecting historical documents during this time period. Make sure your parents check out the terms and conditions before submitting your content. Follow the instructions on the page for submitting images, journals, and other historical sources.

Buffalo History Museum

History with Mrs. T
All rights reserved 2019
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