UMaine Launches Community Archive Initiative to Document Pandemic Experiences

The library at Council member the University of Maine (UMaine) is documenting life during the pandemic with a new archive project.

The initiative, led by the Special Collections Department at the university’s Raymond H. Fogler Library, is seeking submissions of social media posts, journal entries, photographs, and even amended syllabuses to effectively document life in the age of coronavirus. With a special focus on international and first-generation students as well as those living near the flagship Orono, ME, campus, the library aims to highlight both larger developments and seemingly mundane occurrences to showcase day-to-day life for local people.

“It’s history in our time, really,” said Matthew Revitt, UMaine Archivist. “This is the event that I think people are going to look back on in hundreds of years to see what happened and how people responded.”

The Council commends UMaine for this project to document the history of the region and preserve its unique voice in history. Read more in the Bangor Daily News.