This is our first official challenge of the NYS Personal History Initiative. We're kicking it off with Signs of Summer! What makes you excited about summer? What are you looking forward to? Do you do anything special for the Summer months? Keep cool with some ice cream? Look for fun air-conditioned activities? Or maybe you love the heat and sit out by the community pool? We'd love to hear from you and learn what Summer means to New Yorkers! 

Share your story!

After the start of NY Pause, when we all realized that our immediate futures included a lot of time at home, a lot of us began to search for ways to keep ourselves busy and pass the time. Some of us started to bake and share our triumphs (and failures) on social media. Some of us tried our hands at a new craft like knitting or embroidery. Some may have even used the time spent home to finally get to those home improvement projects we may have let slide.

If you learned a new hobby or tried your hand at a new activity during NY Pause, you can detail your experiences in your journal. Consider the following when writing:

• What new hobbies have you discovered?
• What new activities have you tried?
• Why did you choose that hobby or activity?
• Did you have more time to devote to a hobby or activity you already enjoyed?

Art journaling is a way to creatively express yourself using a combination of art and words. It doesn’t need to be complicated or perfect. You don’t need to be an artist to art journal. Spending just fifteen minutes a day jotting down thoughts and drawing, doodling, painting, or however else you’d like to express yourself is a great way to ease into the creative process.

Some ideas to try with art journaling:

• Create an introduction page and draw a self portrait.
• Draw a map of any outdoor spaces you may have visited during NY PAUSE.
• Glue in some headlines from the newspaper and add your thoughts about the stories.
• Draw or include pictures of your pets and talk about how they handled having their owners home so much.
• Write a quote or mantra that has inspired you this year and embellish the space around it.

A collaboration between the NYSL COVID-19 Personal History Initiative (PHI) and Summer Reading 2020 came together when State Library colleagues recognized the strong connection between young people documenting their personal history during the pandemic and the 2020 Summer Reading theme of folklore and fairy tales and telling your own story.

Librarians have put together some ideas for Summer Reading programs/activities, which can also be done independently by parents with teens and children. The page also links to a webinar featuring an introduction about both the Summer Reading program and the PHI. Though designed for librarians to use, the webinar may offer an interesting peek into the world of Summer Reading planning. 

Families can also reach out to their local libraries and see what might be on offer for Summer Reading. Virtual programs, curbside pick-up of materials, even grab and go activities are some of the services libraries across the state are providing. Check with yours locally to see what you can participate in.

Journaling for Kids

Children's voices are underrepresented in the historical record but children live through and experience the same events adults do. Hearing their voices will add to the future understanding of life in 2020.

If your child is old enough to write on their own you can encourage them to create their own journal. Adults can assist younger children by asking them questions and recording their answers. All children might want to create drawings or other artwork to add to their journals.

Some questions to help get children started on a journal:

• How did you feel today?
• What has been your favorite/least favorite thing about staying home?
• What questions do you have?
• What would you like to change? What would you like to stay the same?

Creating a list is a quick way to organize your thoughts and fill a blank page. Lists may be finite or you can continue adding to them as you think of new things. You could fill an entire journal with lists or you may use lists to springboard into other, longer journal entries.

Some ideas for lists include

• An hourly log of your daily routine or a weekly log of your activities
• The top books, music, movies, television shows, and/or other media you've enjoyed most during the first part of 2020
• A list of your accomplishments so far this year, big or small
• The most valuable life lessons you've learned
• Your goals for the rest of 2020

A common journaling exercise is to write a letter to yourself. It allows you a moment to think about where you are in your life, how you’ve gotten there and where you hope to be. If you find that you’re facing a blank page and aren’t sure what to write, consider composing a letter to yourself.

• Letter to your past self: When writing a letter to your past self, think about where you were when the news of COVID-19 first appeared. What advice would present-day you tell past you? Are there any pitfalls you experienced that you would warn yourself about? What moments would you tell your past self to cherish most?
   
• Letter to your future self: When writing a letter to your future self, think about everything you’ve gone through so far regarding COVID-19. What would you like your future self to remember about this time? What do you hope the world looks like for your future self? What lessons do you want your future self to have learned by living through this moment in history?

Some people may find it daunting to record their thoughts in long prose but poetry can offer a creative outlet to express thoughts and experiences.

Poetry as a way of recording historical moments has a long tradition. Some examples include “Million Man March Poem” by Maya Angelou and “Will V-Day Be Me-Day Too?” by Langston Hughes. Both poems highlight a moment in time and the authors’ thoughts about what that moment means to them as well as what those moments mean in a larger context.

There are many ways to write poems. Short or long, serious or light-hearted, poetry is a flexible art form. Your journal could be all poems or you may wish to sprinkle them in as inspiration hits.

One way you can try creating a poem is through blackout poetry. Cut out an article from a newspaper or magazine and use a pen or marker to black out all the words except the ones you want to be the text of your poem.

This month as New York starts to re-open many of us are heading back to our offices and workspaces after two or three months of telecommuting or being furloughed. Most of us are encountering new safety measures, reduced staffing, and desks that seem like time capsules from the last time we saw them.

As we start this phase of re-opening some things you may wish to document in your journal are:

• What, if anything, has changed for you at work?
• How do you feel about going back to your workplace? Is it stressful or are you happy to get out of the house?
• What did you miss most about your workplace?
• What is something you'll miss about telecommuting?

For future historians to know and understand this time in history it is vital that every voice possible is included. This is especially true for historically unheard voices. Your perspective is needed, your voice is important, your experiences will show a fuller picture of life in New York at this time.

Marsha P. Johnson (1945-1992) is a clear example of someone who represents several historically unheard groups. A black transgender woman who dealt with mental health issues and was economically disadvantaged, Marsha was an outspoken gay liberation and AIDS activist who protested in the vanguard at the Stonewall riots in 1969. Following Stonewall Marsha and her friend Sylvia Rivera founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), an organization which sought to help homeless gay youth. Marsha was also a member of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), a group working to end the AIDS pandemic.

Though well known in her community, Marsha's legacy of kindness, caring, and wit coupled with fierceness and tenacity for the people and causes she loved went largely unrecognized in the wider world for a long time following her death. Thankfully her friends continued to tell her story, to highlight Marsha's work in and contributions to gay rights causes. Her legacy of advocacy has been recognized by those outside her community and her efforts celebrated more widely.

History is richer when it includes as many perspectives as possible. Please consider contributing your story.