Share your pandemic story with Mount Prospect Historical Society

The Mount Prospect Historical Society has teamed up with the village of Mount Prospect, the Mount Prospect Public Library, the River Trails Park District and the Mount Prospect Park District to collect and preserve local memories of the COVID-19 pandemic for the future.

And now they are asking the public to actively take part in documenting this history-making time. While we may hate being trapped in our homes by COVID-19 and long to once again walk free and maskless at concerts, sporting events, movies and crowded restaurants, one day we will undoubtedly reminisce about the year(s) of COVID and relate our shared hardships over holiday dinners to those who don't remember or were not yet born.

This time will go down in history as a momentous one that is hard to forget - like The Great Depression, the World Wars and Sept. 11, 2001. But it is important that the memories conveyed are accurate and not distorted or romanticized by poor recollections.

That is why Mount Prospect's public entities have been collecting essays, photos, artwork, news articles and videos via the historical society's website for months.

Now they have added a virtual message board that allows residents to share photos and short responses to periodic themed questions like "How did you celebrate milestones during the Pandemic?" and "What did you do with your time?," as well as space elsewhere on the website for children's and teens' artistic and written perspectives, as well as short articles about:

• Interesting things individuals did during COVID.

• How businesspeople coped and kept their businesses afloat.

• How our leaders dealt with unique challenges.

Join the Mount Prospect Historical Society in preserving what local life has looked like during this period. When COVID-19 is finally relegated to history, the society will also welcome donations of journals, letters and other uniquely COVID-time items to the society's collection.

Visit www.mtphist.org to find out more about these opportunities, or follow the Mount Prospect Historical Society on Facebook and Instagram to have additional opportunities to post responses and photos on the Pandemic Moments posts.

The Mount Prospect Historical Society is closely monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to follow available information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At this time, the safest way to engage with the society is by using the resources on its website, www.mtphist.org.

Any changes to the event schedule will be communicated via the website, email and social media.