Manor Theater. Photo by Eric Lidji. Detre Library & Archives at the History Center.

Experiencing History: Collecting Materials Related to the Coronavirus and COVID-19 Response

The Heinz History Center is collecting materials that document the response of our community to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. 

As Western Pennsylvania residents like you react to new policies and recommendations aimed to restrict the virus’ spread, we wish to document and preserve the materials and stories that demonstrate how you are continuing to communicate, work, commute, learn, teach, create, pray, celebrate, mourn, and give aid to others. Tell us your story or consider what objects or recordings best represent the experiences and observations that have stood out to you most. How are you and your family members spending your time? What do you regard as your biggest challenges? Was there a moment when you realized a historic event was taking place?

The stories and materials we collect will allow all of us to study and share these experiences in the future. You can help us by donating physical materials or by using the form below to submit digital content.

Read our blog to hear directly from our collections team about this project.

Online Photo Gallery

The COVID-19 Collecting online gallery highlights some of the photographs that have been submitted to the History Center via our collections portal. It is a small photographic representation of what has been collected.

Guidelines and Terms

Before submitting content, please review our Guidelines and Terms. Thank you.

HELP US BY CONTRIBUTING PHYSICAL ITEMS

The History Center is collecting select materials that demonstrate the impact of coronavirus and COVID-19 on our region. These might include items that represent the medical and economic impact of the virus on our region, such as modified take out menus, business signage, home lesson plans, grocery lists, and other objects.

To offer physical objects please contact Emily Ruby, Curator, or Carly Lough, Archivist, at acquisitions@heinzhistorycenter.org.

HELP US BY CONTRIBUTING YOUR DIGITAL CONTENT

The History Center is collecting select materials that demonstrate the impact of coronavirus and COVID-19 on our region. These might include typed personal reflections and stories, digital images, sound and film recordings such as home movies, social media posts, web sites, blog posts, and other digital content. You can help us by sharing documentation of your personal experiences. We especially encourage the donation of photographs and other media as file uploads, rather than as links to online posts.

To submit a file or URL location or write your story, please use our Collection Form. For assistance, please contact acquisitions@heinzhistorycenter.org.

Before submitting content through our form, please review these Guidelines and Terms.

To learn more about our usual donation process or to donate any historic Western Pennsylvania material, review our Frequently Asked Questions.

Please choose the type of content you would like to submit:

1 – Tell Your Story

Title:

Tell Your Story:

Please tell your story in as much detail as possible.

Upload File:

Please name your file to reflect its content.
Limit: 25MB If your file is larger than 25MB, please upload it to a file-sharing platform such as Google Drive or Dropbox and link to it in the "Tell Your Story" field.

Date:

When did this experience take place? If submitting a personal reflection, use today’s date.

Location:

Where did this experience take place? Please consider including a building, street or neighborhood name, city, state/province, and country.

Your name (required):

Email address (required):

You may be contacted by History Center staff.

I wish to remain anonymous.

By submitting my content, I understand that the History Center does not guarantee full anonymity and may contact me confidentially.

I have read and agree to the terms.

Read: Guidelines and Terms.

2 – File Upload: Photos, Video, Audio

Upload File:

Please name your file to reflect its content.
Limit: 25MB If your file is larger than 25MB, please upload it to a file-sharing platform such as Google Drive or Dropbox and link to it in the description field.

Title (required):

Provide a title for your image, audio or video file. Ex.: “Bread aisle at Giant Eagle, Centre Avenue.”

Description:

Provide as much description as you can about the experience documented in your file(s), including what it depicts, where it was made, who was present or who is depicted, or any other relevant details.

Date:

When did this experience take place?

Location:

Where did this experience take place? Please consider including a building, street, neighborhood and municipality name.

Your name (required):

Email address (required):

You may be contacted by History Center staff.

I wish to remain anonymous.

By submitting my content, I understand that the History Center does not guarantee full anonymity and may contact me confidentially.

I have read and agree to the terms.

Read: Guidelines and Terms.

3 – Links to Websites

URL (required):

Description:

Provide as much description as you can about the above URL, including its relevance to the coronavirus/COVID-19 as well as relevant names, dates and locations.

Your name (required):

Email address (required):

You may be contacted by History Center staff.

I wish to remain anonymous.

By submitting my content, I understand that the History Center does not guarantee full anonymity and may contact me confidentially.

I have read and agree to the terms.

Read: Guidelines and Terms.

4 – Links to Social Media

URL (required):

Description:

Provide as much description as you can about the above URL, including its relevance to the coronavirus/COVID-19 as well as relevant names, dates and locations.

Your name (required):

Email address (required):

You may be contacted by History Center staff.

I wish to remain anonymous.

By submitting my content, I understand that the History Center does not guarantee full anonymity and may contact me confidentially.

I have read and agree to the terms.

Read: Guidelines and Terms.

Contribution Guidelines and Terms

The Heinz History Center is collecting materials relating to the response of Western Pennsylvanians to the spread of coronavirus and COVID-19. Please read the following guidelines before submitting your content:

  • All accepted items will be made available for public research by the Heinz History Center.
  • By submitting content through this form, you are granting the History Center non-exclusive (shared), royalty-free license to preserve, modify, and share your content for public research, educational use, exhibits, or publication, including in print or online.
  • The Heinz History Center reserves the right to remove content that it considers duplicative, inappropriate, or outside the scope of this project. The History Center is not obligated to include your content in this project or preserve it in perpetuity.
  • Please only submit photographic, audio, or video material which you own or have created. If you would like to refer or nominate material which you do not own, please contact us at acquisitions@heinzhistorycenter.org.
  • You must be 18 years of age or older to submit content.  If you are under 18, please ask a parent or guardian to submit content on your behalf.