Life During COVID-19


Preserving Personal Pandemic Stories

About

Eastern Washington University Libraries is creating a digital archive detailing how COVID-19 impacted EWU and members of its community. First-hand accounts and expressions created during the pandemic can help future generations better understand what it was like to learn, work, and live during these uncertain times. We are calling upon you to contribute your journals, memories, creative writing, and photographs to create collectively a better record of how EWU experienced the pandemic.


Student Submission Prize Drawing

Thank you to all who participated!

We’d like to congratulate the winner of the Life During COVID Student Drawing, Christopher Moznette!

We thank all the EWU students who shared their reflections, poems, essays, and stories through the drawing. Your contributions will provide insight into some of the social and personal changes occurring during these unusual times. We encourage you to read all their stories housed in the Life During COVID digital archive.

 

What We Are Collecting

The EWU Libraries is collecting written and visual media that reflect your experience during the pandemic. We seek submissions that speak to how your life changed as a result of COVID-19. This may include material about remote learning, self-quarantine, changes in how you keep in touch with friends and family, ways you’ve seen the pandemic expose social inequalities, how you have helped or been helped by others, the list goes on.

We encourage you to submit the following types of work:

Written memories. These may consist of a journal recording events as they unfold or your thoughts providing insight from the present day, months into the pandemic.

Creative work. This includes poetry, fiction, photographs of artwork, or other creative work.

Photography. Please also consider sharing photographs you have taken that capture this time and a selfie during COVID-19 to accompany your submission.

If you have created audiovisual media or wish to submit physical items to the EWU Archives, please contact us directly at archives@ewu.edu.

Through our collecting efforts, the EWU Archives hopes to provide future generations better insight on what it was like for the EWU community to live during the pandemic.

See the Growing Collection

How to Submit

You may contribute your story by using the form button below. If you wish to upload files, please log into a Google account, both personal and EWU Google accounts will work. If you wish to type in your response directly into the form, log-in is not required.

In order to help with the submission review process, the EWU Archives asks that you provide your name and email address in case there are questions about your submission. Email addresses will not be shared. Names will not be retained if you request anonymity through the form.

Please do not submit personal health information or information that might violate the privacy of yourself or others.

Submit Form

Other EWU Resources

Because the pandemic has impacted individuals emotionally, physically, and financially, EWU has provided several services to support its students during these challenging times. You may visit the EWU Student Care Team homepage for information on seeking services as or on behalf of an EWU student.

Project Q & A

You may submit multiple entries. Please provide the same name so we can combine your entries.

A Google account is required to complete the form. Information about signing up for a Google Account may be found on Google’s support page. If you work for or are a student at EWU, then you may use your EWU username and password to log into your EWU Google Account.

Submissions will be evaluated and, upon acceptance, will be made available to the public.

Participants who agree to make submissions available without restriction can expect to see their work posted to the EWU Libraries Digital Commons. Please note that EWU Libraries reserves the right to decline the submissions at our discretion.

The focus of this project is to reflect the experiences of the EWU community during this unusual time. That said, we realize that our community extends beyond the relationships described on the submission form. If you feel you are a part of the EWU community or that your contribution will help illuminate how the pandemic impacted the University or its members, please contribute!

Contact the Project Leader

Photo of Steven Bingo

Steven Bingo

Acting University Archivist
Photo of Steven Bingo
EWU Libraries, 320 Media Lane, Cheney, WA 99004

EWU Libraries and Learning Commons

JFK Memorial Library
320 Media Lane, 100 LIB
Cheney, WA 99004
509.359.7888
circulation@ewu.ewu

University Archives and Special Collections

JFK Memorial Library
320 Media Lane, 100 LIB
Cheney, WA 99004
509.359.2475
archives@ewu.edu