The Musée d’histoire de Sherbrooke (MHIST) is encouraging Sherbrooke residents to record and share their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic for future generations.
“Our mandate is to preserve the local memory and right now we are writing a moment in history,” explained David Lacoste, Director of MHIST. “It’s part of our mission.”
The idea behind the initiative is to collect testimonials for research expected to be carried out on the pandemic in the future. “We hope that in 20, 30, 40, 100 years that a trace is left behind. We are preserving the current memory but for the future.”
Lacoste explained that while the media will have recorded the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic happened, it’s the human stories that are important and provide deep insights into the different realities at the time. “We hope that people participate and that we can have complete and diversified information.”
As curator Karine Savary stated in a recent press release; “Official speeches and outlines will be preserved via media and official sources. But what about human beings? We want to know your realities; how do you live with confinement? Do you work from home? In the health sector or with the public? What are your fears? Your hopes? How do you spend your time?”
MHIST is inviting Sherbrooke residents from all walks of life to participate in the initiative.
Testimonials can be presented in the form of a letter, a poem, a diary, a photograph, or a drawing and sent to karine.savary@mhist.org. or they can be given to the museum in paper form when the social confinement period is over.
Testimonials should include your name, age, e-mail, and address. This information will remain confidential and is only being used to make the donation to MHIST official.
Share your pandemic experience with local historical societies
By Taylor McClure, Special to The Outlet
