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When the pandemic began, many people sensed that they were about to live through something historically notable, and took pains to document it. Organizations around the country and the world—historical societies, museums, libraries among them—began collecting artifacts about the pandemic, including personal narratives.
“To us, the details are mundane,” says Jeffrey Reznick, a historian and chief of the History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine. “But to a future scholar, they can tell a little bit about how we were resilient in facing this profound change in our lives.”
Reznick joins the library's attempt to assemble artifacts from the current pandemic era—a push that started as soon as the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global health emergency. The library has an extensive archive of items that tell the story of significant medical events. But what's happening now with COVID-19 is on a larger scale. Reznick notes that the library believes the collection will be of significance to people in the future, not just historians and public health professionals, but also journalists and sociologists.
In early April, the National Women's History Museum in Alexandria, Va., launched a COVID journaling project aimed at detailing the experiences of women and girls from a variety of backgrounds. “The goal was to provide a platform for participants to record their experiences,” says Lori Ann Terjesen, director of education at the museum. So far, she has gotten a few hundred journals, both online and physical.
Submissions include art and poetry, in addition to diary entries. Some are from people whose lives are inconvenienced but who are otherwise seemingly okay—while others show the devastating impact of this disease. A woman named Lakia records in her diary on April 10, 2020, that her friend is going to the hospital, and she can't visit him because of COVID restrictions. The next day, she writes, “Sadly I found out that my friend, Donald, passed away due to the Coronavirus.”
Scientists, it turns out, believe there can be therapeutic value in keeping a record of one's thoughts and feelings during difficult times. Adriel Boals, director of behavioral science in the department of psychology at the University of North Texas, is primarily interested in how trauma affects the brain. He says that expressive writing like journaling can be highly beneficial for people who are dealing with stressful events, such as the pandemic: “If someone has a bad experience and they keep it bottled up inside, that will eat away at their emotional health and then their physical health.”
1. According to Jeffrey Reznick, the details that people documented during the pandemic are ______.
[A] trivial
[B] useless
[C] revealing
[D] striking
2. The library tried to collect artifacts about the pandemic ______.
[A] since WHO asserted that COVID-19 was a world-wide threat
[B] because they would be important to professionals and teachers
[C] when people experienced historically well-known political events
[D] so that scientists might find valuable therapies from them
3. It can be learned that the COVID journaling project was developed to ______.
[A] give people a chance to record what they experience
[B] offer financial advice to different women and girls
[C] attract the attention of historians and sociologists
[D] help people who live in adverse circumstances
4. The diary of Lakia is mentioned to ______.
[A] show her sadness about her friend's death
[B] indicate the damage caused by the pandemic
[C] manifest the online submission by a COVID case
[D] demonstrate the strictness of the COVID restrictions
5. Adriel Boals holds that concealing the unpleasant experiences may ______.
[A] spoil one's appetite
[B] undermine one's health
[C] elevate one's spirits
[D] develop into a tumor