Welcome to the Carbon County Sheltered Stories Project
Carbon County Sheltered Stories receives grant funding from the Carbon County Creative Arts Fund
Project Goals:
- provide opportunities for Carbon County residents to share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences during the COVID-19 epidemic
- collect written, video, and audio submissions over a six-month period to create a local history
- create a publicly accessible resource available through the Dimmick Memorial, Lehighton Area Memorial, and Palmerton Area libraries for the benefit of future generations. This resource will become part of the digital archive of the State Library of Pennsylvania
- share and reflect on these experiences at a community event in Spring 2021
Journaling, poems, blog posts, and short stories---whatever your preference, are all ways to keep a personal record. These creative forms of writing help work through emotions and shed light on your unique perspective. They give context and life to traditionally recorded history. In small communities like Carbon County, they provide a sense of identity and lasting legacy for future generations. Creative pieces can be submitted electronically through this site or paper submissions can be collected at a future date.
Create a Local Written and Oral History of COVID-19
Oral history is a way of gathering and preserving the first-hand experiences of a community through conversations. These conversations are recorded for the purpose of collecting history. Technology gives us greater opportunities to collect this information via video conferencing, vlogging, and other audiovisual technologies. Because of social distancing protocols, and the availability of such technologies, the Sheltered Stories project will include a variety of audiovisual stories submitted by participants.
Sheltered Stories is an opportunity to record and share a COVID-19 history which is local, personal and values a wide range of perspectives. This personal history will only exist for future generations if we commit to recording it now. Help tell the story as only those who are living it can.