Documenting a Historic Event – COVID-19 and Chester
We are living through an unprecedented moment in our lifetime. Documenting the impact of this crisis on regular people, as it unfolds, is an important responsibility. This unique time is worth preserving to help us be better prepared for future emergencies and to help future generations understand what it is like for us being quarantined in 2020.
The Chester Library is collecting the thoughts, feelings and general impact of the COVID-19 Quarantine on Chester residents of all ages for a historical record of life in Chester, NJ circa April 2020. The collection will be made available to the public and will be retained for historical research.
We are asking those who live, work, or go to school in Chester to share a written memory of no more than 1500 words and/or a captioned photo and/or a short video (no more than five minutes) describing their personal experiences in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please keep the following questions in mind as you record your thoughts:
- What has surprised you the most during this quarantine?
- What is your biggest fear?
- Have there been any positive impacts of this quarantine?
- What is the most difficult part of the quarantine?
- What are your hopes for the future when this quarantine is over and how have those hopes changed from before this quarantine began?
Please also let us know if you are willing to be contacted by the Chester Library after the quarantine is over.
All submissions* must be accompanied by your first and last name, age, and email or phone number so we can contact you about your submission if necessary. If you are the owner of or employed by a Chester business, please also provide your job title and place of employment. Submissions should be emailed to LocalHistory@chesterlib.org as an attachment or sent via USPS to Local History Dept., Chester Library, 250 West Main St., Chester, NJ 07930.
*Only send this work if in agreement that Chester Library has permission to share it with the public as part of the historical record and no benefit, financial or otherwise, is given or implied for the submitted material.
Local History Department
The Local History Department of the Chester Library in Chester, New Jersey is a resource for reference and original materials that document Chester, Morris County, and New Jersey history. The Department also serves as a repository for records of the Library. The purpose of the Local History Department is to collect, preserve, describe, and make accessible these materials to the local community, as well as to visiting and online researchers.
Chester Library requests that patrons make an appointment in advance for research purposes.
For more information, email LocalHistory@Chesterlib.org.
Local History News
Chester Library Unveils Nearly 400 Images of Historic Chester
Chester, N.J. – February 26, 2018 – Chester Library has added 392 digital images to the Wyckoff Family Collection Finding Aid, making it easy for researchers to locate online visual resources of historic Chester. The topics covered by the new images...
Chester Library Releases Extensive Index for History Researchers
Chester Library announces its newest Local History resource, an exhaustive online index of Chester, New Jersey, A Scrapbook of History by Frances F. Greenidge. With more than 3,000 subject terms, the index lists all of the businesses,...
Chester Library Delivers All Elected Officials at One Site
Chester Library now offers the only location for the complete list of Chester Borough and Township elected officials. Previously, information seekers paged through old record books at the Borough and Township offices or individual PDFs of council minutes...
Chester Library Breaks New Ground with Multimedia Oral History Online Exhibit
Using postcards to focus on specific local sites, a novel online exhibit by Chester Library turns oral history on its head. The exhibit features videos starring lifelong Chester resident and retired plumber Herman Rademacher using his own postcard...
Chester Library Adds Postcard Exhibit to Online Offerings
Thanks to a loan by Jack Rademacher, Chester Library now offers another way to experience historical Chester — via postcards. The online exhibit, Chester...
Call for Yearbooks
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Join the Local History Clippers
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Chester Library Digitizes Cave Maps
Chester Library’s Maps Collection is available online at the New Jersey Digital Highway. The collection includes seven cave maps as well as the Chester Quadrangle topographic map. The maps can be viewed...