Community archives capturing life, coping strategies during pandemic in Sask.

Future Saskatchewan residents will be able to look back on the COVID-19 era, thanks to community archive projects being done by the Western Development Museum (WDM) and the University of Saskatchewan. 

At the U of S, professors are launching a virtual space where people can upload things that are important to them or have helped them hope during the pandemic. Anyone in Saskatchewan can participate.

"We're all living under some of the same policies but … our communities are shaping our experiences," Professor Erika Dyck said. "We'd like to try and capture some of the diversity." 

Dyck is a history professor at the University of Saskatchewan and the Canada research chair in the history of medicine. She said she has two hopes for the project: fostering connection and documenting this historical time. 

"We kind of want to get a flavour of all the different experiences that people are having throughout these really strange moments," she said. "Just being able to witness other people's innovative ways of coping, whether that's through writing poetry or getting out." 

Dyck said she's influenced by looking back at the 1918 pandemic. She said the majority of people who lived through it aren't alive anymore to share the experience of what it was like. 

"We want to do this for future historians and for students of history," she said. 

Dyck said she is hoping for a variety of perspectives, from young students who are learning at home to people who have had to return to work in person. 

The University of Saskatchewan is also partnered with the WDM on a community archive launched April 15, 2020. 

"The novel coronavirus has already caused an unprecedented crisis — a global shock that will be remembered for many lifetimes to come. You can help to document the impact of the pandemic here," the WDM website reads. 

People can submit photographs showing things like self-isolation, physical distancing, changing ways to work, communication, caring for each other and more.

Dyck said she hopes that, if another pandemic hit in 102 years, people could see beyond the initial panic of a pandemic.

"Maybe this is a bit optimistic, but I would hope that by looking at the archive we can see things beyond the fear and the panic that often or almost invariably accompanies these moments," she said. 

"And I hope that we'll also be able to retain something hopeful and see how communities come together and actually survive and move through these moments together."

Submissions can be made to the University of Saskatchewan community archive at COVID19archive.usask.ca, or the Western Development Museum community archive at saskviews.ca.