The Quarantine Diaries: A Chapman University Archiving Project
Who tells your story?* You.
Inspired by university archives across the country, the Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections and Archives of the Leatherby Libraries invites contributions to The Quarantine Diaries: A Chapman University Archiving Project. The project aims to capture the experiences of the university community during the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and the unrest our nation has faced during these historic times. Saving the memories of this paramount experience that humanity has faced during this pandemic will give future researchers valuable insights into our university life.
A collage of images of campus during the quarantine, submitted by Chapman University staff. Left to right: an empty Orange campus; a virtual town hall with senior leadership; a Black Lives Matter demonstration in front of the Leatherby Libraries.
Who is eligible to donate?
Chapman University community members (in Orange County and beyond) eligible to donate to the archives include:
What can I donate?
Examples of personal and professional content donated to the archives can take almost any form, if it represents a person’s experiences of the quarantine and can be submitted electronically.
Contributions include but are not limited to:
Most file formats will be accepted, but preferably at the highest quality:
Here is an example of a donation in our collections, from another uncertain and historic period:
Diary entry of young Orange County local, Rakumi Sasaki, describing her journey to the Poston War Relocation Center, an internment camp in Arizona, May 1942.
What if I do not own the materials? What if I want to keep it private?
Content must be submitted by the original creators, meaning the copyright/intellectual property is owned by you. The exception to this is staff transferring work deliverables on behalf of their campus office, department, or unit. Be aware that donations to the archives will possibly be placed in Digital Commons, the University’s publicly accessible, online database of digital objects. Submitted materials that contain personal health information or private, personally identifiable information about you or others (such as medical records or Social Security numbers) will not be included in the project. (If you find material on our library websites that infringes on an individual's privacy or in violation of copyright law, please contact us to request the removal of the material.)
How do I donate?
For submissions and questions, please contact Special Collections and Archives at speccoll@chapman.edu. Please include “Quarantine Diaries” in the subject line. In the email, state how you are affiliated with CU, and if you are donating personal materials on behalf of yourself, or transferring professional materials on behalf of your CU campus office, department, unit, or organization. All submissions are subject to review and approval. If approved, an archivist will work with you to transfer items via email or cloud tools. Accepted donations will require a completed donation form.
CU Researchers and Scholars: If you have completed research or scholarship, please consider donating to the COVID-19 Research and Scholarship series on Digital Commons.
Thank you for supporting the preservation of historical collections connected to the University’s past and present, and our programs of research. Write yourself into the narrative!*
For more information on archiving projects such as these, here are select resources:
*Credit to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton for reminding us to tell our stories.