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Donations sought for COVID-19 archive collections

The Regional History Center at Northern Illinois University, the DeKalb County History Center, and the Sycamore Public Library have partnered together to preserve the experiences of the northern Illinois communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They want to preserve your stories, experiences, and thoughts during this unprecedented time in order to have a historical record of how the pandemic impacted the region.

The DeKalb County History Center is accepting documents for the county. For more details on how to submit your entries to the DCHC, refer to its Collecting History Initiative web page (https://www.dekalbcountyhistory.org/events/collecting-history-initiative/). There is no deadline for submissions.

The NIU Regional History Center is seeking stories from community members of the following 17 northern Illinois counties: Bureau, Boone, Carroll, DuPage, Jo Daviess, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Putnam, Stephenson, Whiteside, Will and Winnebago. Residents of these counties, as well as those of DeKalb, are encouraged to complete the questionnaire covering topics such as changes to daily life and work routines.

The RHC also is accepting digital entries and physical items for its COVID-19 in Northern Illinois Communities Collection, including (but not limited to) narratives, videos, audio clips, journals, artworks, small objects and ephemera. There is no deadline for submissions. To complete the questionnaire or for more details about how to submit digital entries or donate physical items, visit http://go.niu.edu/skdkli.

NIU also is collecting stories from its faculty, staff, students and alumni for preservation in the university archives. Those affiliated with the university are asked to complete the questionnaire and submit digital entries at http://go.niu.edu/m4mdne. Information about how to donate physical items may also be found through that link.

The Sycamore Public Library is asking patrons to take part in their Summer Reading Program, where they can submit their COVID-19 experience in writing or other creative work for an entry to the Grand Prize Drawing. Deadline for entry is Friday, Aug. 7. More information can be found at www.sycamorelibrary.org/.

Questions may be emailed to the DeKalb County History Center at info@dekalbcountyhistory.org or the NIU Regional History Center at rhcua@niu.edu. Call the Sycamore Public Library at 815-895-2500.

Source: The Daily Chronicle

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