The White River Valley Herald

Book Projects Seek To Preserve Tales of Pandemic Life



Barnard’s Edythe Wright has been collecting submissions, such as the one pictured, to incorporate into a book she will design about life in the area during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Provided / Edythe Wright)

Barnard’s Edythe Wright has been collecting submissions, such as the one pictured, to incorporate into a book she will design about life in the area during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Provided / Edythe Wright)

At least two books are being worked on by White River Valley residents in an effort to preserve stories of COVID-19 in their towns for future reference.

Edythe Wright, of Barnard, is heading up one of these projects for her hometown. Although she has been a book designer for many years, this is the first time she’s actively crowd-sourced material.

Periodically throughout the last few months, she’s reached out via the town’s Listserv asking people to submit writing and artwork about their lives during the pandemic. So far Wright has gathered about 10 submissions, and hopes to continue gathering more from people connected to Barnard throughout the pandemic.

Wright said she was inspired to start the project by accounts of the 1918 flu, noting that she’s never seen any Barnard-specific accounts of that pandemic.

“I’m very much interested in what it’s like for young people, whose lives just changed so radically,” said Wright. “For some of us, staying home and working from home hasn’t been that radical a change,” she added. One of her biggest challenges so far, said Wright, has been convincing people to allow her to make their work public, when the book is eventually published, she said. To ease some of their concerns, Wright said she’s open to people using pseudonyms or submitting thing anonymously.

“It’s not about the person to me—it’s about this document,” said Wright, adding that she feels people’s personal experiences in Barnard are a valuable piece of history to preserve.

She’s also interested in the political discussions that have been unfolding throughout the town, she said.

“Even just who’s wearing a mask and who’s not,” she said, “Some of the exchanges on our email list have been rather heated about wearing masks, for example, and…that’s what is happening right now, and that’s relevant.”

The final book publication is still a long way out, Wright said—she wants to give people time to continue to submit things throughout the pandemic, and perhaps even a little while afterwards when people have a chance to reflect back on their experiences.

For now she said, she’s considering opening up the call to more than just Barnard residents.

“I don’t care if all you ever did was stop in at the Barnard General Store,” said Wright, emphasizing that many are part of the community beyond those who live in Barnard.

Strafford Book

The Strafford Historical Society is also collecting stories for a book about COVID-19 experiences in its town.

Susan Cloke, a historical society board member, explained that the idea for this book came from a book the historical society published after Tropical Storm Irene. Although that book was published before Cloke moved to town, she said documenting the way the town has responded to COVID-19 seemed like another important event to document in Strafford’s history.

“The pandemic is horrible, but it’s still a historic event,” Cloke noted.

Since mid-May, the historical society has asked for people willing to share their experiences to get in touch.

So far, Cloke said she’s interviewed many people and hopes to interview many more. She and the other historical society board members want to make sure they collect a wide range of stories from people throughout the town.

Cloke said that during the interviews she’s conducted, some of the stories that have stood out have been about how Coburn’s Store rose to meet the needs of the town early in the pandemic.

“They started early providing masks and gloves to people, they began curbside pickup…they also had a food shelf so that people could get assistance if they needed it—and the local community really supported them and appreciated them,” said Cloke.

She added that one resident took it upon himself to install copper counter tops in the store, in an effort to provide a surface that the virus might not live on as long. Donations from other townspeople covered the cost of materials, and went to support the food shelf, said Cloke.

Cloke emphasized she’s been repeatedly impressed by community members’ responses to a huge public health crisis.

“There are many examples in this town of people reaching out and just making sure that everybody is okay,” she said, adding that people have “really done a remarkable job of showing what a community can do when it’s necessary.”