The Clark County Historical Society was involved in the Oral History Weekend tied to the exhibition and was eager to host a version of it in the Heritage Center lobby through July. In addition to the photos, visitors will find artifacts and archival materials from the center’s collection representing the local experience of those times.
“As a historical society, we want to tell the story of our community when we look back at these periods,” said Natalie Fritz, Heritage Center archivist and outreach director. “This was about resilience during world-changing events.”
Although the pandemic was just a few years ago, visitors can view items that were considered the “new normal” at the time including a variety of masks, hand sanitizer, vaccine kits, buttons from places like Wittenberg encouraging vaccinations, a safety kit distributed to schools and materials from the Clark County Combined Health District.
The Heritage Center exhibit also has comments on display cards left by visitors to the original exhibition regarding their pandemic experiences. Visitors were encouraged to write about what they went through at the time.
There are also examples of what cities like Springfield experienced during the Great Depression including the Ohio Writers’ Project, part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs to help revive the country. It allowed writers the chance to chronicle and create an overview of the history of states like Ohio and the local book is on display.
The Historical Society collected stories during the Oral History Weekend in February of pandemic experiences and will continue to capture these from anyone willing to share, as well as collect some materials related to it with a local emphasis.
Fritz requests that nobody just drops off items at the Heritage Center, but to contact staff first.
“We think talking about things like this could be therapeutic as it was a tough time for everyone,” Fritz said. “Our goal is to save it all for the future. People can think about what can be preserved.”
The Historical Society is planning a collection day in the future where visitors can talk about potential items or share their stories. The staff will also be at the upcoming Clark County Fair with a special exhibit on circuses, sideshows, oddities and “weird stuff” that came to the area along with their version of a mermaid.
The Heritage Center is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free, but financial donations are welcome. For more information about the Historical Society and Heritage Center, go to www.heritage.center/.
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