Impressions from the Pandemic: Oklahomans Reflect on COVID-19

About the Project

Between 2021 and 2022, interviews were conducted with more than 30 individuals about their experience in Oklahoma during the first two years of the COVID-19 global pandemic in a project supported by a grant through the Institute for Museum and Library Services. Participants were recruited intentionally to represent a wide survey of perspectives for occupation, geographic location, and community positionality. We talked to educators, parents, policy-shapers, and workers in the service and health industries. Interviews related to this global historic event will continue over time to increase perspective representation and changing reflection over time. 

In March 2021, the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program partnered with the OSU Humanities Initiative (now Center for the Humanities) to bring folklorist and scholar, Dr. Andrea Kitta to the OSU-Stillwater campus to talk about her more than decades long research on rumor, belief, and vaccine hesitancy and how this research situates with COVID-19 pandemic. This event was open to the public in-person and via live-stream broadast. We asked for feedback from indivuals on who we should talk to for this oral history series and introduced the goals of this project to a public audience.

2022-2023 OOHRP Podcasting Intern, Bethany Merino, highlighted some of the experiences of Oklahomans who lived through the pandemic from this collection of interviews. In this episode of Amplified Oklahoma, you will hear from educators, students, and healthcare workers as they describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their lives. You will also here from Dr. Rebecca Kaplan, assistant professor and historian of medicine and public health at OSU, about what she hopes were lessons learned from the pandemic.

If you have continued suggestions on who we should talk to for this project, please share by filling out this form. 

This project is made possible with support from the Institute for Museums and Library Services American Rescue Plan Grant. 

 

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Contact Us

Oklahoma Oral History Research Program
207 Edmon Low Library
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: 405-744-7685
liboh@okstate.edu

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