CHENEY — Although COVID-19 isn’t history quite yet, someday it will be, and the Cheney Historical Museum is preparing for that future by collecting local stories and artifacts to ensure future generations understand the 2020 Pandemic. It’s a complicated task in a modern age of technology, transient communication, and digital media.
“It’s really preservation because we have a few letters from the 1918 Pandemic, but this time, people don’t write letters anymore. I’ve grabbed stuff off of social media, but I wanted physical stuff like masks,” museum co-director Joan Mamanakis said.
The museum is searching for a variety of face coverings that represent the unique elements of pandemic: homemade masks, paper masks, local sports masks; anything that will aid in telling the story. And if you have a recollection or an image to accompany the garment, you’re encouraged to send that too. “I’ve asked people in the past . . . to write or record a little video or something about the impact this had on them,” Mamanakis continued. “Stories or if people wanted to do photographs of them with masks on or wearing protective gear.”
Anyone interested in donating a mask or sharing a recollection is encouraged to email [email protected] or call 509-850-0314. And although the museum is currently closed due to ventilation issues, they’re anticipating a grand return at their new location at 614 Third Street this fall with a host of new displays.
And someday visitors might see a COVID-19 display because, for Mamanakis, preserving the present for the future isn’t a trivial matter.
“We did an exhibit a couple of years ago about the end of the First World War and the influenza pandemic and its remarkable how much that history reflects in what’s going on today,” she said.
Scott Davis can be reached at [email protected].
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