Historical Society Documenting Oklahoma Life During COVID-19 Pandemic

The Oklahoma Historical Society is putting out a call for items to help history remember the COVID-19 pandemic in Oklahoma.

“We need to understand the past to understand the present and to prepare for the future,” Oklahoma Historical Society Executive Director Dr. Bob Blackburn said.

For more than 125 years, the organization has collected the sights, sounds and stories of Oklahomans.

“We know that in 50 years, 100 years, 200 years from now people will be looking back on this episode to determine how it impacted the course of history,” Blackburn said.

That’s why they are looking for things like pictures, journals, posters, work schedules and distance learning materials to help mark this time.

“If someone has been inspired to write a poem or compose a song, we need that,” Blackburn said. “The art that children do to express themselves in their own unique way, we need the sermons from the preachers who are reaching out to the faith community to say, 'we are together.'”

People interested in donating an item should contact archival collections manager Mallory Covington at 405-522-0876 or mcovington@okhistory.org.

“We need to make sure that the future can look back on this episode and see how we responded and how it changed us,” Blackburn said. “We always need to get a sense of community where we've come from.”

To learn more about the project, click here.