Living History Project
Stories from across the Malton area
The 2020 Covid-19 virus outbreak across the world will be an event remembered well into the future as one of the key events of the 21st-century.
Museums collect information as well as objects, and they have a responsibility to store it safely for the public. Often it is looked at again well into the distant future. Here at Malton Museum we are keeping a record of how life presented itself this year of Covid-19.
Our work will be an asset for future volunteers, historians and the public who are interested in the past. It is, if you like, a very small-scale version of the Mass Observation Project that was run in the Second World War and which has now proved so helpful in understanding how ordinary people lived, behaved and what they valued in war time.
We are asking you to help us by providing details of your experiences of living in this area during the Covid-19 outbreak – this will be added to the museum’s archive.
Please send us your special stories of Covid-19 as well as details of your regular activities through the pandemic and tell us how the present restrictions and changes have affected your daily life.
We are keen to receive photos as well but this is not essential.
We would like you to tell us about your everyday life this year during Covid-19. For example:
How has life changed?
Are you doing things for the first time like growing vegetables?
Have you had time to develop a new hobby? If so please give details.
Have you baked more – and what have you cooked?
How do you communicated with your family and friends?
Have there been any surprises or special stories arising from lock-down.
What have you missed?
How are things changing as lock-down eases?
Tell us as little or as much as you like. Think about what in 2070 our descendants will learn about us?
All this information will be kept in the Museum’s archive and is not intended for publication or to be part of any current exhibition, although this may change in the future.
If you live in the Malton / Ryedale area and would like to contribute information to the project please write to us at [email protected]
You are welcome to send up to three photo images as well, although if these include images of people we will send you the necessary data protection form to sign, just in case they are needed for exhibition purposes in the future.