There are two ways in which we would invite the public to help to capture the experience and impact of the coronavirus pandemic in Dorset.
Firstly, it is clear that we are living through highly unusual times and Dorset History Centre, working in partnership with Lighthouse, Poole would like to make sure that our experiences are captured for posterity. We would like to recruit a number of people – from different ages and backgrounds – to contribute a ‘Corona Diary’ to the county’s archive collections. The diaries can be in any format – hand written, typed, art works, recordings, photographs – but we’d like our contributors to commit to making an entry at least every couple of days, and usually every day.
As things are changing so fast, there is an urgency to this. If you would like to become one of our diarists, please email us at archives@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and we will get back to you.
—
Secondly, we would like to encourage anyone who has come into possession of material (digital or hard copy), whether for public or private consumption that reflects life during the pandemic, to consider depositing it at DHC once the crisis has passed.
Examples of this could include:
- Help notices posted through doors from neighbours
- Hygiene notices
- Closure notices
- Images of your working from home set–ups
- Photographs showing life under ‘lockdown’ – e.g. empty streets, shops, schools etc. Any aerial footage showing this would also be of interest.
- Any sound or video recordings that also capture the essence of this event.
At the moment, for obvious reasons, we are unable to receive anything at DHC but we would be very happy to do so once we re-open.
If you would like to offer any material, or have any questions relating to what DHC is doing during the pandemic, please email us on: archives@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk