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Home/work, 1721/2020

5/18/2020

1 Comment

 
PictureMy quarantine workspace.
Birds twitter outside my door. My children and those of the neighbors shriek and play in their respective yards. Every so often, my partner or I head out to procure supplies. Every day is an exhausting, illuminating adventure on ½ acre.

Today, I’m pondering the similarities and differences between my work for the Historical Society now, in the time of COVID-19, and the lives of the Lexington residents who lived through, for example, the 1721 smallpox epidemic.
 
Pros (2020):
  • Modern amenities like running water, electricity, internet (all of which make remote work possible for millions)
  • Medical/scientific knowledge to fight virus
 
Cons (2020):
  • Global population accustomed to air/auto travel due to family and business opportunities in far-flung locations
  • Air travel spread virus globally quicker than would be possible in much of the rest of human history
  • Much larger businesses than in the 18th century - increases spread and makes returning to shared workspaces extremely complicated
 
For my very selfish part, I am grateful to have a home, a job (and the ability to do said job from home), and the flexibility to teach my kids and work at the same time. Some of these things would have been possible in 18th century Lexington, but some would not (like a paying job outside the home - I am still a woman).
 
Without getting into modern politics, what are some of the pros or cons you can think of for living in 1721 or 2020 during an epidemic of disease?

*On a side note, it is extremely interesting to be an historian living through an historical moment. I feel as though anyone in the library/archives/museum field has a heightened awareness (our “Spidey sense,” so to speak) of what materials we should be collecting, what stories we should be preserving, whose voices we should be seeking out in this historic moment. This pandemic has changed almost everything about what we do, how we interact, even who we are. It’s a watershed moment in global and U.S. history and it is fascinating (though sometimes terrifying) to live through it.*

-Stacey Fraser, Collections and Outreach Manager

1 Comment
Richard Thorne
5/24/2020 09:48:46 am

Good morning Stacey. Interesting work space; any problems with birds thinking of being company? My wife and I have many friends teachers trying to teach remotely and it cannot compare with what was possible 4 months ago, 40 years ago; being able to have had teachers in grandparents generation and hearing their stories. Nope, nope, nope not the same at all. Thanks for your blogs (?)
Richard

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Funding from Mass Humanities has been provided through the National Endowment for the
​Humanities ​as part of the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

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