Documenting History: Local Institution Chronicles Maryland's Pandemic Experience
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- It was two years ago Friday, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, setting off an unprecedented time defined by a global crisis now entering its third year.
In Baltimore City, some of us snapped a photo, others pressed record, preserving a moment in time, a moment in Maryland's history.
These memories are what the Maryland Center for History and Culture have been collecting for years, since they opened in 1844.
The museum and library are now a home for each item and every story.
"Everything is really a part of history, even things that may seem small and personal," said Allison Tolman, Vice President of Collections and Interpretation at the Museum.
There's a diary from 1915 that belonged to Florence May Cooper. Cooper, from Maryland, took the diary with her to Europe during World War One. She worked with the American Red Cross at the time, as a nurse. On February 29, 1916, Cooper wrote, "there were supposed to have been four officers, all of which have been killed either by shrapnel or drowning, it was a sight never to be forgotten."
Fast forward to the Freddie Gray Riots in 2015, the Maryland Center for History and Culture efforted a rapid response collection, building a community's collage of photos, stories and videos.
But at the start of the pandemic, the museum was forced to close its doors.
This time ushered in a new way of life for Maryland communities and a new collection for the museum called Collecting in Quarantine, "to really document what people were going through and what they were seeing at the time," said Catherine Mayfield, France Merrick Director of the H. Furlong Baldwin Library.
And Marylanders are contributing to the collection. There are face shields, hand sanitizers made at a local distillery and quilted masks for a little girl's doll because, "her daughter was not feeling super comfortable with wearing a mask and so creating the mask for the doll was a way to help her daughter."
Along with items, people are contributing their stories too.
Like the stories and photographs from James Trudeau, who ventured out and photographed how this virus hit each of us, old and young.
"There's a little boy riding a scooter, wearing a police badge, wearing his mask, just still having fun," Trudeau described in one of his photos.
Trudeau took photos by day and came home to his new pet pig, Oliver, by night.
"Work at home, do virtual learning and now raise a pig," he laughed.
And from new pandemic pets to older pets, Michael Lisicky documented the pandemic alongside his dog Charlie, the two of them in a deserted Fells Point they turned into their playground.
"It never looked like this, it's empty," Lisicky said.
And of course, the collection has love stories too.
Allie and Alex Smith had a big wedding all planned out until the pandemic hit, but they didn't want to wait, so dressed in t-shirts and tennis shoes, they walked over to their friend's house for a socially-distanced cheers.
But their friend's surprised the bride and groom with a party. "They actually ended up bringing all of our friends together," said Allie Smith. The wedding party turned into a block party, shutting down traffic on the street so strangers could come out and celebrate with the happy couple.
And with COVID comes stories of loyal love too.
Jesse and Carol Gardner have been married for 35 years, but perhaps the true test of a relationship is when one partner is forced to give the other a haircut.
"His hair was very big like a bush and I just started on one side," said Carol. Jesse said she even looked up some YouTube videos to teach herself how to do it. He said what really helped were the dog clippers.
But for the Gardners, sharing their story with Collecting in Quarantine was about more than a haircut, it was about "showing how all of us as a society had to persevere through this," said Jesse.
As it was for so many others who contributed to the collection.
"Putting our little print on something that will last forever is pretty cool to think about," said Allie Smith.
If you would like to contribute to Collecting in Quarantine, visit the Maryland Center for History and Culture's website.
