Covid Work Stories archives people's experiences of living and working through COVID-19
Covid Work Stories is a joint project of the Carleton Centre for Public History and Ingenium: Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation, with assistance from the Workers’ History Museum. Covid Work Stories was funded by a Carleton University COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant.
We wanted to know how people had to adjust their working lives because of COVID-19. We asked eight individuals to share their stories. They work in a variety of industries and they speak about how they had to change the way they worked, and why, and what they think they might carry on doing once the pandemic is over. Listen to the workers who have shared their stories with us and now with you.
We also asked specific questions focusing on science and technology which helped us create resources for teachers and small museums. Teachers will find some useful tools for discussing the pandemic in the classroom. Small museums seeking to acquire artifacts related to the pandemic will find those identified by our interviewees helpful.
All visitors to the site will find links to other COVID-19 projects, exhibits, archives, and media accounts. We also offer a small online exhibit of postage stamps celebrating front-line and essential workers across the world.
Experiencing COVID-19 through Science and Technology: Adjusting, Adapting, Innovating
How have people had to adjust their working lives because of COVID-19? We asked seven individuals to share their stories. They work in a variety of industries and they speak about how they had to change the way they worked, and why, and what they think they might carry on doing once the pandemic is over.
We asked specific questions focusing on science and technology. For teachers, our website shares some ideas for using our website in the classroom. For small museums we offer a list of artifacts suggested by our interviewees. For everyone we offer links to other resources and showcase stamps celebrating front-line and essential workers across the world. Like those who shared their stories with us, and now with you.
Looking towards the future we are confident our project has created an archive that will be useful for anyone interested in reading and hearing about the experience of working with COVID-19 from its first detection in Canada in January 2020 through to July 2022 when most restrictions have been lifted. As we move into more familiar working environments, it is clear that the way we work will never quite be the same.
Meet the Team
David Dean
Project Lead
David Dean is Professor of History at Carleton University and co-director of the Carleton Centre for Public History.
He is a member of the steering committee of the International Federation for Public History and co-edits the journal, International Public History. He is currently writing Performing Public History for Routledge.
Rebecca Dolgoy
Project Lead
Rebecca Dolgoy is the Curator of Natural Resources and Industrial Technologies at Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation.
Her research on memory and museums explores relationships between material culture and public memory. She is currently an Adjunct Research Professor in Carleton’s School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Helin Burkay
Helin Burkay is an affiliated researcher with Carleton Centre for Public History and Adjunct Curator at Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation. Her research is on cultural history of food, immigration, and memory.
Kate Jordan
Kate Jordan is a curator at Parks Canada and holds an MA in Public History from Carleton University.
She is interested in the role of stories in shaping and creating community, and in how sharing them builds relationship and a sense of belonging–something she is grateful to explore everywhere she goes. Her enthusiasm for pirate history is, she suspects, entirely unique among the project team.
Emily Gann
Emily Gann is the Curator of Aviation and Space at Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation.
As part of Ingenium’s Curating Under Quarantine Initiative, Emily has overseen research projects that document the effects and impacts of the pandemic on science and technology industries.
Molly McCullough
Molly McCullough is a Curator, Collections and Curatorial, Indigenous Affairs and Cultural Heritage Directorate, at Parks Canada.
Danielle Mahon
Danielle Mahon recently completed her MA in Public History with a Specialization in Digital Humanities at Carleton University. Her research focuses on African Canadian history and heritage preservation using oral history and digital storytelling methodologies.
She is interested in how life story and place-based memory can be used in public history initiatives to build community.
Kirstan Schamuhn
Kirstan Schamuhn is a candidate in Carleton University’s MA Public History and Graduate Diploma Curatorial Studies programs.
Kirstan has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art History/Museum Studies from the University of Lethbridge, and experience working with museum and oral history collections.