Preparing for the centennial of the 1918 flu pandemic two years ago, Aspen Historical Society curators and archivists were disappointed to find sparse resources in the society\u2019s files about the outbreak in Aspen.<\/p>\n
Curator Lisa Hancock collected all she could from archived newspaper articles, cemetery indexes and hospital records. But she found no first-hand recollections and no historical artifacts \u2014 the things museums and historians rely on to interpret events of the past meaningfully for present audiences.<\/p>\n
One of the first people in the world killed by the flu in 1918 was here in Aspen, where whole families died from it and where deaths continued in waves through 1920. But the local experience of that pandemic is lost to history because it wasn\u2019t preserved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw where the gaps were,\u201d Historical Society executive director Kelly Murphy said. \u201cWe had the data but not the personal story.\u201d<\/p>\n
That experience was fresh in Murphy\u2019s and Hancock\u2019s minds as the novel coronavirus outbreak hit Aspen in March and soon shut down public life here. With the historians of 2120 in mind, they wanted to leave a textured and detailed record of local life through the public health crisis.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Aspen Public Radio began using its platform to share locals\u2019 first-person accounts of COVID-19 and the stay-home period, broadcasting them on air.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as we heard about it, we were like, \u2018We\u2019ll archive that!\u2019 and we volunteered to be a part of it to keep those stories,\u201d Hancock said. \u201cThe impetus came from the lack of a collection from 1918 and knowing we needed to be proactive and collect all the stuff now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nonprofits partnered and launched their \u201cQuarantine Stories\u201d oral history project, with a call for public submissions announced April 14. The project has gathered more than 30 histories since then.<\/p>\n
For the radio station, the project aimed to build empathy and connect people personally while they were forced to stay apart. For the historians, it\u2019s about future Aspenites understanding how this period reshaped the town.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have specific missions as organizations and it\u2019s interesting that this project aligns with those missions separately,\u201d said Aspen Public Radio community engagement manager Lisa DeLosso.<\/p>\n
They want to reflect the full spectrum of local experiences. They\u2019ve gathered stories from people who have been infected and recovered, people who lost loved ones, who lost jobs, people whose work and school lives have been disrupted. An entire class of Carbondale sixth-graders shared their impressions (\u201cDear Future Historians\u2026\u201d they begin). One local woman recorded a poem she wrote in mid-April about the anxiety of the stay-home period (see sidebar).<\/p>\n
Because everyone\u2019s life has been impacted, everyone has a valuable story to tell for history. (Hancock\u2019s own oral history details watching the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe with her family during the shelter-in-place period.)<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone\u2019s experience going through this is unique, everyone has something to contribute,\u201d Hancock said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be one extreme or the other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Statistics and public records like the ones she has from 1918 provide information, but they can\u2019t tell future generations what it felt like here.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuarantine stories are invaluable to us,\u201d Hancock said. \u201cHistorians can tell all sides of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eventually the transcripts will all go into the Historical Society\u2019s database along with its other oral history collections, as well as digital files of the audio recordings.<\/p>\n
For Aspen Public Radio, the community-centric project follows a bumpy patch in community relations. A fierce public backlash followed the station\u2019s January decision to remove most of its music programming and a dozen shows hosted by local DJs, filling their time blocks with more national programming.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe feedback for us is that we need to be local,\u201d DeLosso said. \u201c(\u2018Quarantine Stories\u2019) is something that we are doing to maintain that connection to our local community. It\u2019s a good community-focused program.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Historical Society has never taken on a contemporary research project like \u201cQuarantine Stories.\u201d It has occasionally gathered artifacts from evidently historic events as they happen \u2014 archiving the receipt for Aspen\u2019s first legal recreational marijuana sale, for instance \u2014 and in 2018 recorded a handful of oral histories about the Lake Christine Fire in Basalt. But it\u2019s never done one on this scale.<\/p>\n
The Historical Society is also collecting physical artifacts \u2014 \u201csocial distancing\u201d signs from the county and local businesses, homemade masks and, eventually when it\u2019s no longer needed, personal protective equipment from Aspen Valley Hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen looking back at the 1918 pandemic, I\u2019ve thought \u2018What are the things I wish I had?\u2019\u201d Hancock explained. \u201cI wish I had a nurse\u2019s uniform, I wish I had business signs, I wish I had physical objects that would tell the story.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is no end-date on the oral history project, just as there is no conclusion to the pandemic in sight. The Historical Society and Aspen Public Radio are hopeful that locals will continue sharing their stories as stay-home orders lift, recording initial experiences with public life in the safer-at-home period and as more people return to work and school in the coming months and years.<\/p>\n
The prompts for participants will change as the situation on the ground evolves.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Quarantine Stories\u2019 will add so much to the ability to interpret this event because of their personal nature,\u201d Hancock said. \u201cI wish I had this kind of material to know how people were feeling 102 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWondering if the grocery store worker sneezing in aisle 3 was infected<\/p>\n
Wondering why the kid stocking the shelves isn\u2019t wearing a mask or gloves and keeps getting in my space<\/p>\n
Wondering if I should eat breakfast as soon as I get home from seeing your early bird shopping hour<\/p>\n
Or wipe down all the groceries with disinfectant first<\/p>\n
Wondering if washing the thin wool gloves I wore to the store and my face muff with other clothes<\/p>\n
Will infect everything because it was only a cold wash<\/p>\n
Wondering if the article someone sent me today saying that vigorous exercise creates a vortex of exhaled droplets that travel as far as 35 feet is real or fake news<\/p>\n
Wondering why the store manager says he can\u2019t make his workers wear masks only encourage it<\/p>\n
Wondering why I can find any place to get a test to see if the cold I had six weeks ago was actually a mild case and now I\u2019m okay<\/p>\n
Wondering why our president isn\u2019t giving us plans that reassure us rather than make us even more nervous<\/p>\n
Wondering what the summer will look like<\/p>\n
Wondering if I just go back to bed will I wake up to find it was all a bad dream\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Katherine McMillan<\/p>\n
\u201cThe social distancing became a challenge because I was not in my normal work environment, spending lots of time alone at home, and the isolation became mental and emotional as well as physical and I found myself sort of sinking into a bit of depression and loneliness. But, regardless, I have a dog and every day I had to walk the dog down the stairs and in the open space that is sort of at the end of our property back behind the lumberyard. And most of my neighbors would end up walking their dogs at the same time, so the neighbors would walk their dogs and maintain social distancing so we\u2019d be standing in a circle or squares, you know, 6 to 10 feet apart. \u2026 Just that little bit of contact and that little bit of community was really valuable and really helpful and became something that I looked forward to almost on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Michael Monroney<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this stupid pandemic has also shown me what I took for granted: school. I never thought I\u2019d ever say that, but here I am, saying it. I realize that waking up at 6:30 in the morning is worth it, so thank you, stupid pandemic. You have taught me something that I will remember for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Masamo Stableford, Carbondale Middle School<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a rancher and a writer, which right away defines me as a practitioner of social distancing and self-flagellation. I spend days out riding my horse a riding a tractor getting the hayfields ready. \u2026 It\u2019s all the same been the same for years. Probably the biggest effect on me is the social distancing. (There is) nothing I love better than to see my grandkids run up and jump and I catch them in the air and give them a big hug. Can\u2019t do that anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Tony Vagneur<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I have met the person I will be spending the rest of my life with. He and I have been able to create an emotional connection that I probably never would have happened if COVID-19 would not have forced us both to be sheltered in place and to truly develop a deep emotional connection virtually. And so I think this has truly been a rewarding experience for myself and for him and we probably never would have been brought together if it wasn\u2019t for this month.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Dana Wood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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