The COVID-19 Journal Project invites people to contribute records that exemplify life during COVID-19 to their archives.

Hosted by the Wisconsin Historical Society, the project aims to collect the moments and memories that people have experienced during this past year, providing an important recollection for future generations about what life was like amid a pandemic.

When Volunteer Opportunities Coordinator Ricardo Marroquin Santos learned of the project, he decided to implement it into Madison College Volunteer Center’s monthly volunteer opportunity meeting schedule.

After collaborating with Student Program Advisor Brianna Stapleton Welch and Yahara Journal Editor Hailey Griffin, Marroquin Santos introduced the COVID-19 Journal Project meetings, which took place on Thursday, March 25 and Thursday, April 1.

The meetings aimed to have students come together to discuss their experiences, and to conjure ideas to write about and send to the Wisconsin Historical Society’s archives. With having dealt with the pandemic for an entire year now, Marroquin Santos felt it was a great opportunity to allow students to express their voice.

“My hope was to kind of give people this open space and be able to reflect on each other’s experiences,” said Marroquin Santos. “I felt writing more this year and I wanted to let people know that this was available. I also wanted to embrace everybody’s voice,” said Marroquin Santos.

Although the meetings have ended, people are still heavily encouraged to submit their work to the COVID-19 Journal Project. To submit your journal, follow the link https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/JournalProject.

It should be noted too that people submitting their pieces have control over when their archived pieces are shown to the public. For example, if there’s something that you submit that you’d prefer not to have read, you can ensure that it isn’t read until a certain point in the future.