The Village of Ossining Historian, Joyce Sharrock Cole, in partnership with the Ossining Public Library, has launched the Ossining Community History Collection Project: Ossining during COVID-19. We have embarked upon this endeavor to create a preserved collection of the stories and ephemera of Ossining’s community during this historical era of our lives.
Who would have thought that we would encounter a deadly plague in our lifetime — A global pandemic that could not be immediately cured with our vast medical knowledge and advanced technology? COVID-19 has changed the way we see and navigate the world.
The past few months have challenged our community in unprecedented ways, changing daily life as we know it. Future generations will want to know how Ossining managed everyday life — how we endured as a community. How did families, businesses, schools, and individuals approach this changing landscape? How did we cope when human interaction outside of our homes became dangerous? How did we adapt to donning personal protective equipment while shopping, or the change in the way we enjoy familiar pastimes such as dining in restaurants? In a time where graduations have become drive-thru events, our homes have become offices/schools, and Zoom became the default setting for birthday parties and family reunions, how did we acclimate to this “new normal”?
It is our responsibility to capture this time for posterity.
Ossining residents, we need your help! We invite you to participate in writing our current history by sharing your personal experiences from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
How has the pandemic affected you, and how have you endured? How we cope varies from family to family, from one person to another. Some have found comfort in creative activities, such as journaling their experiences, writing songs, or painting, while others host Zoom meetings, partake in spring cleaning, or hiking, among other experiences. We want to hear your personal stories.
To share your personal stories, visit the Village’s COVID-19 Project Interactive website HERE.
From there follow the instructions to make a submission.
What you share:
- Journal entries/written stories
- Poems
- Essays
- Pictures
- Audio clips (interviews)
Not a writer? That is okay; use the interactive forms that contain questions to prompt your writing.
Need Inspiration for topics to write on? Try one of these:
- Working/not working during the pandemic
- How I (we) survived the quarantine
- How social distancing affected my life
- How the quarantine affected my business
- Life during COVID-19
- Graduating during the pandemic
- Losing someone to COVID-19
- Surviving COVID-19
- How COVID-19 changed senior year (HS students)
- COVID-19 changed my wedding plans
For questions, contact Village Historian, Joyce Sharrock Cole, via email at historian@villageofossining.org.
