Daily Discovery: Help Make History! / Descubrimiento en casa: ¡Ayuda a hacer historia!

Museums are places to learn, play, and discover…and they also have another important job: to collect, save, and share history! FCMoD focuses on the history of Fort Collins and Northern Colorado, and we need your help by telling us your story of living through COVID-19. Learn more below!

Hi, my name is Lesley Struc and I am the Archivist here at FCMoD. An archivist brings the past to the present by collecting and saving things like photos, letters, diaries, books, maps, and newspapers. I love keeping these things organized and available so that everyone can visit the Archive or our website to discover the history of Fort Collins!

One of my favorite stories about local history is our connection to Disneyland in California. A man named Harper Goff grew up in Fort Collins and later worked for the Disney company. In the 1950s he helped design the look of Main Street in Disneyland and used his happy memories of Fort Collins as inspiration! Here is a view of Walnut Street in Fort Collins from 1891…I think I can see a little Disneyland in there!

“Hi there! My name is Linda and I am the Curator of Collections here at FCMoD. I take care of the artifacts –which can be any of the objects we use to live our lives, while collecting as much information as possible about them. I make sure the rooms where we keep artifacts have the right temperature and light and are safe from pests that could harm them. My favorite moments with artifacts happen when people recognize something familiar in them: like when seeing a toy reminds them of how it felt to be younger, or a fingerprint on an ancient piece of pottery reminds them what it feels like to squish clay in their hands. (Visitors enjoy showing off their aprons from home while visiting an exhibit about historic aprons.)

What Can You Do? . . . Share Your Story!

We want you to tell us your story! Visit here to submit written, video, and photo files about your experience living during COVID-19. Use the ideas and questions below to help you get started.

We want people of all ages to complete it! That means you kids, teens, grown-ups, and families together. Remember your story is so important! You don’t have to be “famous” to be a very important part of history!

Not ready to share your story yet? That’s ok! Use the ideas below to record it anyway. When you’re ready, we’d love it if you share your story with us through our website. We want to help you save your story for your friends and family who will wonder about it later.

Get Started!

Not sure how to tell your story? Here are some ideas:
• Write a letter to your future self. What do you want to remember?
• Take a video of yourself telling the story of your quarantine.
• Interview your friends and family (see our “Story Detectives” Discovery At Home to get started!)
• Become a photojournalist for a day/week. Write captions for all your photos and be sure to note
where you took it and the names of anyone in the photo!
• Create a graphic novel or art about living in COVID-19.
• Make a scrapbook! Include mask selfies, pictures of school at home, sidewalk chalk, baked goods, other parts of your experience! Be sure to include when, where, and who info about the photos.
You can share all of these with us through our website portal!

Think about these questions:

•  If you were a kid learning about COVID-19 in 50 or 100 or 200 years what would you want them to
  know about your life? What would you want to tell them?
• What do you want to remember about this time?
• How are you feeling? What scares you? What makes you happy? What makes you sad?
• What are you doing? What new things have you created or done to stay entertained?
• What has been the hardest thing for you about stay-at-home and COVID-19?
• What has changed in your life that is different from before?
• How do you feel about wearing a mask?
• How do you feel about doing school or work at home?
• How do you feel about not seeing friends or family?
• What has been the best thing about stay-at-home? What is the most fun thing you’ve done?
• What is making you smile even when life is hard?

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

“¡Hola! Mi nombre es Linda y soy la curadora de colecciones aquí en FCMoD. Me encargo de los artefactos -que pueden ser cualquiera de los objetos que utilizamos diariamente- mientras recopilo la mayor cantidad de información posible sobre ellos. Me aseguro de que las habitaciones donde los guardamos tengan la temperatura y la luz correctas, y que estén a salvo de plagas que puedan dañarlos. Mis momentos favoritos con los artefactos ocurren cuando las personas reconocen algo familiar entre ellos: ver un juguete que trae memorias de su infancia, o una huella digital en una pieza de cerámica antigua les recuerda lo que se siente el aplastar arcilla entre sus manos.”