East Aurora Advertiser

Historian’s Office Asks Community to Help Document Local Impact of Covid-19Free Access


In an effort to document the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Town of Aurora and Village of East Aurora area, the Historian’s Office is asking the community to contribute to a special collection in the town and village archives. 

“Our perspective of today’s events will be invaluable to future generations and researchers,” Town and Village Historian Robert Lowell Goller said. “There’s no doubt that people living 100 years from now will be very interested in what was happening—or not happening—in East Aurora in the spring of 2020.” 

The Historian’s Office has been documenting the local impact in recent weeks through photographs and video, and with the preservation of documents and newspapers, but a broader perspective will enable future generations to have a better view of our community during this historic time and to help them learn from our experiences. “We are putting together a time capsule of sorts,” Goller said. “Please save items that will help us tell our story to future generations.” 

Items that may be contributed: 

–Photographs and/or videos that you have taken that depict life at this time in our community. Be sure to include the location and date of the photograph, as well as other identifying information, including the name of the photographer. 

–Documents related to “social distancing” and the impact of COVID-19 on East Aurora. Every day documents such as advertisements, cancellation notices, signs and church bulletins offer insight into how much COVID-19 has impacted daily life in our community. 

–Diaries. There is no better time than now to begin keeping a journal. Future generations will want to know what we were thinking in real-time. Thanks to several diaries and journals kept and preserved by residents of our community, some as far back as the mid-1800s, we have insight into the past that we would not otherwise have. Diaries always are an important way to document history, but they are especially important during times of historical significance. How you are spending your time during “social distancing,” your feelings about it, and how you may personally be impacted by the COVID-19 virus will be of great benefit to future researchers. Nothing is too mundane or unimportant to include. Even the weather is important! The more people we have documenting life in 2020, the more perspectives we will be able to share with future generations. 

Digital contributions may be emailed at any time to historian@townofaurora.com. Physical documents should be retained until a later date, when they will be collected at drop-off locations in the community. There is no deadline for contributions. 

For more information about the Historian’s Office, visit www.townofaurora.com/departments/historian. 

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