Artifact of the Month: July 2020

Active Collecting: How Ketchikan Experienced the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ketchikan Museums actively collects current events to document and preserve the collective experience of our community. The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting our daily lives in an unprecedented way. We invite you to share your thoughts, stories, and the materials you have collected or created related to COVID-19. With your help, Ketchikan Museums will build a collection that reflects how our community experienced the pandemic in the areas of health, the economy, education, politics, religion, and social changes.

If you are interested in sharing digital content such as photographs, videos, and audio clips, please submit online at submit online. Physical objects, like this month's featured artifact, are also being accepted. To create fun for children and their families during quarantine community members hid teddy bears for people to discover on walks or driving around town. Nurse Cares-A-Lot is one of eight themed teddy bears Tiffany Pickrell posted along North Point Higgins and it honors the tireless efforts of our medical staff.

We are interested in anything that relates to your unique experience with the pandemic. Other suggested material can include but is not limited to:

• Artistic reflections
• Business signage about closures, social distancing measures, or fundraising
• Canceled or re-scheduled event information
• Easter egg decorations
• Face masks
• Grocery store lists and receipts
• Housing-related material, such as rent or mortgage relief
• Lesson plans and other educational material related to remote learning and homeschooling
• Mass mailings
• Personal correspondence and journals
• Photos of closed businesses, social distancing, homeschooling, or religious activities
• Take-out menus
• Unemployment paperwork
• Video and audio diaries, journal entries, and reflections

Submitted materials will be reviewed by Collections staff, and may be added to the permanent collection. Items may be shared through our online collections database and on social media. If you have questions about this collecting initiative, please contact Hayley Chambers at (907) 228-5708 or hayleyc@ktn-ak.us.

Ketchikan Museums, TC 772