The New York Times published an article titled “The Caretakers of Women’s Pandemic Stories,” which showcased the collection of acquired journal entries that the National Women’s History Museum gathered over the last two years.
“Overshadowed”
Lori Ann Terjesen is the vice president of education at the National Women’s History Museum and the woman who first seized the opportunity to rewrite history. According to her, “Women’s history has kind of been overshadowed by male-dominated history, not because it’s not there, it’s just in the archives—their stories really live in journals.”
That is what got us here, with 500 journal entries serving as a time capsule of 2020. Women made up a great percentage of workers who were deemed essential during the worst of the pandemic, holding positions anywhere between nurse and cashier. “With this project,” says Terjesen, “we were really hoping women would feel that their stories have value.”
These journal entries come in many forms, from handwritten notes to voice messages sent to a friend via smartphone. One story was even told through a quilt. History being skewed through a man’s perspective is a tale as old as time, which is why the “caretakers” of these tangible pieces of history worked so hard to publicize them. These entries can be found on the museum’s website, but VALLEY wanted to pay tribute to some of the quotes that really resonated, from one socially distanced woman to another.
VALLEY’s Hand-Picks
“Hold Your Breath” by Rana Bitar
Talking to people behind masks is tricky
They can only see your eyes
and the frown in them can’t hide behind a smile.
Truth. The truth is more naked behind a mask.
“Quilt Blocks” by The Nubian Heritage Quilters Guide
“From the Corona Files” by Jane Hertenstein (about getting the Pfizer vaccine)
Then I cried. I burst into tears when a minute before we’d been joking around. My daughter and the nurse gave me a second as I sobbed, my face in my hands. I couldn’t believe it, luck? Destiny? God’s grace? Why me? But, yes, I’d made it. I was alive.
“F*** 2020” by Farrin Chwalkowksi
Flames for a year: Mother nature’s revenge
Stress building up, and up and up…
A little optimism we all need
2020, would be over, “we would write it down in history
A gloomy year, the world in 2020
“Record Everything” by Jane Hertenstein
We learn a lot when forged in the fire of uncertainty. Like the importance of friends and family. Stuff we used to take for granted. Stuff we always thought would be there, we see how quickly it disappears like toilet paper on a grocery shelf. This is a metaphor—but also a literal analogy.
