Your COVID Things
The ongoing health crisis has prompted our society to change and adapt in pretty dramatic ways. Everyone has been affected. We have had to add new phrases to our collective vernacular such as “Flattening the Curve", “Frontline Worker" and the dreaded “Social Distancing". We are in unprecedented times. It is unlikely (hopefully) that we will experience something like this again in our lifetimes. Future generations will read about our pandemic and wonder what it was like to live through our adjusted day-to-day lives. The Simcoe County Museum, like museums around the globe, is preserving those memories for the future, and we need your help!
In order to best tell the stories of how the Covid-19 pandemic affected people in Simcoe County, the museum will collect objects that relate directly to our local experiences. For instance, several area businesses have suspended normal operations and converted their production to materials to help fight the pandemic. These businesses include distillers converting their stills to produce hand sanitizer, and plastics companies making face shields. Part of the Museum's collection related to Covid-19 will include sample objects of these items. If you know a business that has done this, we'd love to hear from you to make sure we have them included in the collection.
In the community, many citizens and community groups reached out to help others. Some groups made cloth masks, scrub caps, and other items. Others created t-shirts and signs to show support and send messages of support to frontline and essential workers. The Museum will collect samples of these handmade items, which will help tell the story of how our residents pulled together to make our way through the pandemic. If you have any examples of these products, we would like to take a look. If you are interested, please contact us at museum@simcoe.ca. with an image or two attached to your message. Unfortunately, the museum cannot accept these items until we are open, so we will ask that you hold onto them for now. We will schedule appointments after the Museum re-opens and safety precautions are in place.
Simcoe County Museum and Simcoe County Archives are working together to preserve and collect items that tell the local story of the Covid-19 Pandemic. You may have letters, journals, photos, or similar items that document our Simcoe County experience. Items like these are being preserved by Simcoe County Archives. For more information on what they are collecting, visit their website https://www.simcoe.ca/Archives/Pages/Collecting_Community_Responses_to_COVID-19.aspx
If you have questions, please contact us, museum@simcoe.ca