While many people would like to forget these trying times, the Hingham Historical Society wants to remember, collect, and preserve everything about living through the novel coronavirus crisis in a project it’s calling “Hingham on Hold.”
The organization is asking residents to share stories, videos, and photos of their experiences of the pandemic — by e-mail, snail mail, phone, or in a wooden box at the door of the closed historical society’s headquarters in Hingham Square.
“You’ve been living history,” the society said in a video posted to its website. “Years from now, your story will provide insight and perspective. You will help us fulfill our mission of preserving Hingham history and help create the archive of pandemic history.”
Executive director Deirdre Anderson said the project came together quickly — spurred by the realization that personal recollections of history are often the most interesting and that catching this moment is important. Submissions started coming in the morning after the video went up late on March 28, she said.
“People are home and wanting to channel their creativity,” she said.
One of Anderson’s favorite submissions was from Dr. Madeline Robertson, who wrote about helping create a craft project for children on the last Sunday that St. John’s Episcopal Church was open — and receiving a thank-you note in her mail slot from two 8-year-old twins, complete with illustrations of their finished artwork.
“That gave me such a lift,” Robertson wrote. “Now when I pass their house, when I’m walking my dogs, and they are outside, we all greet each other by name and wave happily at a safe distance.
“I feel this is a good example of how the stress of social distancing is causing us to reach out and make new friends that we might not otherwise have made. This gives me hope that the social distancing we must observe to prevent COVID-19 from overwhelming our health care system, our communities, and our loved ones, will not break our spirits,” she wrote.
Local photographer Brooke Bartletta submitted dozens of pictures — including scenes of empty parking lots at usually bustling spots in town, a blank sign showing nothing playing at the local movie theater, and a notice at St. Paul’s Catholic Church asking people to pray for, and stand 6 feet away from, each other.
There were also numerous photos of grocery and restaurant employees and first responders continuing to work.
“When it became apparent that we were facing a long, drawn-out battle against an invisible foe, I decided the best use of my time and talent [was] to document my immediate surroundings and the everyday heroes who are making such incredible personal sacrifices,” Bartletta said in an e-mail. “I want these folks to know that they are seen and deeply appreciated. I also want to provide the town with documentation of daily scenes that are the antitheses of ordinary daily life here.
“Bertrand Russell once said, ‘memory demands an image,’ and this pandemic demands documentation. History will show that our town pulled together in a time of crisis,” she wrote.
Anderson said the historical society will post the project online and “in the future, when it’s safe to be together again, I hope we have some kind of retrospective and display what we are collecting.”
Participants can e-mail their reflections to historymaker@hinghamhistorical.org; phone in to 1-800-437-3009, ext. 75796; mail to PO Box 434, Hingham, MA 02043; and find more information at hinghamhistorical.org/living-history-hingham-on-hold.
Johanna Seltz can be reached at seltzjohanna@gmail.com.