History as it happens: Documenting the COVID-19 pandemic in Missoula County

Since 2020, Missoula County – along with the rest of the world – has been living through a major historical event. There has not been another pandemic like COVID-19 since the 1918 flu, but this time around, we have the technology to document this piece of history while it happens.  

In this episode, the commissioners talk with Leif Fredrickson, adjunct assistant professor and Director of the Public History Program at the University of Montana, about a project the County and University jointly launched to document the COVID-19 pandemic. This project seeks to create a rich collection of sources to help us understand the pandemic: how people responded to it and how decisions shaped people’s experience of the pandemic. The collection is being cataloged and made available to scholars and the public through a digital portal administered by the Archives & Special Collections Department of the Mansfield Library: http://missoula.co/coviddocumentation  

Anyone – individuals and organizations alike – can submit materials to this archive online at https://www.lib.umt.edu/asc/covid-project/default.php  

Leif has also been collecting a series of oral history interviews from officials, business leaders, non-profit administrators and community leaders around Missoula County and their experience of the pandemic. Take a listen to sections of interviews with COVID-19 Incident Commander Cindy Farr, Senator Diane Sands and Harvest Home Care CEO Kavan Peterson at http://missoula.co/oralhistoryclips  

Thank you to Missoula's Community Media Resource for podcast recording support!