COVID-19 and US (the Walworth Historical Society) – updated 8/11/20
At a meeting or the WHS Board on 8/10, the following was decided. Due to COVID-19, all programs for the remainder of 2020 sponsored by the WHS have been cancelled.
This is an unprecedented time in our history. The last major event even close to the severity of this pandemic occurred 102 years ago with the “Spanish Flu.” Obviously we are concerned about the health of all of our members, friends and family, so we are taking precautions.
The Walworth Historical Society is OPEN by APPOINTMENT ONLY. We do encourage you to visit, but we can’t have a crowd. Masks and other precautions will be required. Contact President Jessie Keymel or Town Historian Gene Bavis for an appointment.
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SO, let’s turn this batch of lemons that were delivered into LEMONADE! We are all trying to isolate ourselves, so while we are sitting at home, let’s try to do some productive things in support of local history. This would be a good time to WRITE some information down that you are carrying around in your head. Your history is our history. Please consider writing a story or article for the Walworth Historical Society Newsletter. Patti Holdraker recently asked all of us local historians to send her pictures and articles of historical interest to publish in the Times of Wayne County. Do you have something we could share?
This is a time you might work on recording your family history. If you have connections to Walworth, please share it with us. We have files and even books of genealogies at the WHS. We’d like MORE. AND this is a GREAT time to go through those FAMILY PHOTOS (and label them). Would you be willing to pull out a few photos of people, places and things related to Walworth (set them aside) and let us SCAN them after this emergency is over?
Diaries and journals from the past are great primary sources of local history. What you write today is history tomorrow. Think about recording your thoughts and experiences in writing (it can be saved on your computer and/or printed). OR you can do it the old-fashioned way: in handwriting on a piece of paper. Historians 50 or more years from now will be interested in what you write.
There are millions of on line sources of local history. Some are good and others not so good, but this can be a time to explore those. Get your kids and grandkids involved in history when you can.
The Wayne County Historic Sites website was mentioned previously. If you get sick of staying home, go for a driving tour and look at some of our historic sites from the safety of your car. Please visit: www.waynehistorians.org
