‘PANDEMIC ARCHIVE’ WILL TELL COUNTY’S COVID TALE
It will include lockdown memories and artefacts and interviews
A NEW archive project is to chronicle life under coronavirus in Staffordshire to help future generations understand the period.
It will include a ‘pandemic war diary’, featuring interviews with people such as key decision-makers and volunteers who delivered food and support. Other items will range from official documents and artefacts through to memories from the general public, and even schoolchildren’s rainbow artwork.
Staffordshire County Council hopes the project will ‘share the story’ of the pandemic and how the county responded at a time of need.
It is set to culminate in an exhibition and book, along with the permanent archive for future historians to use.
Chris Copp, collections officer for the archives and heritage service, said: “Hopefully, people will learn from the experience. It’s a massive thing to happen in our lifetimes.”
Staffordshire already has records from the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, including how it affected Army training camps at Cannock Chase. “There are some quite heart-rending stories of Anzacs and German prisoners of war,” added Chris. “Spanish flu really hit hard.”
The latest pandemic collection will look at how ordinary people became caught up in extraordinary circumstances from 2020 and beyond.
More than 140 lockdown memories have already been submitted by the public. They include photos and testimonies from an NHS worker and mums and dads trying to navigate home-schooling.
Chris said: “We’ve got testing kits and also PPE equipment – both homemade and bought. There were people at home making scrubs for hospital staff.”
The challenges of trying to keep coronavirus at bay in local communities will be captured through interviews with council staff. And they are also likely to talk about the race to roll out vaccinations.
Among those due to be interviewed for the oral diary is Richard Harling, who oversaw much of the official response as the council’s director of health and care. The civil contingencies unit, business support and communications teams will also be asked to contribute to the record.
There will be creative approaches as well, featuring Staffordshire’s poet laureate and an artist, while there have already been workshops in local schools.