Library seeks New Haven-area pandemic perspectives for historical archive

  • A box and a pile of postcards on a table
    The Hindsight 2020 "postcard station" at the Derby Public Library
August 9, 2021

With the ongoing devastation of the pandemic, a renewed and energized movement for racial justice, a high-stakes presidential election, and much more, 2020 was a year for the history books.

To ensure that New Haven area perspectives will be preserved in the historical record, Yale University Library’s Manuscripts and Archives department launched Hindsight 2020: New Haven, an online platform that invites residents to look back and reflect on this watershed year and its ongoing impact.

 “We’re living through challenging, historic times,” said Jennifer Coggins, archivist for special collections and one of the project’s leaders. “For those of us who want to preserve a record of our thoughts in the moment, this is an opportunity to do so together.”

Text and photographs submitted to the website along with uploaded images of handwritten postcards will be displayed through the summer of 2022 and will remain publicly accessible for future generations and researchers as one of Yale Library’s online digital collections.

Hindsight 2020 is part of a larger effort by the library to document life in New Haven, with a particular focus on communities that have been historically underrepresented in archives. To reach diverse communities, much of the website content is in English, Spanish, and Arabic. Online outreach has been supplemented with “postcard stations” at community events and area libraries.

Many of the initial responses to the project have expressed difficulties and challenges, but also shared good lessons learned, such as slowing down, learning new skills, and gaining a new appreciation for life. A mother of five children wrote about learning “to adapt to a changing world while instilling the basic principles in the lives of my children.” A grandfather who took up painting during the pandemic uploaded a painting of his grandchildren who had learned to “entertain themselves inside with the playgrounds closed.”

This summer, library staff have partnered with public libraries in the Greater New Haven area to set up “postcard stations” where residents can jot down their reflections. Last winter, the Free Public Library’s “Inklings” writing group co-hosted a reflective writing session, and at New Haven’s International Festival of Arts and Ideas in June, Yale Library staff set up a table on the New Haven Green inviting  passersby to respond to the question, “What would you tell someone from the future about living through this time?”

Postcards will continue to be available in local libraries and at the Arts for Labor event on September 5 honoring workers who served throughout the pandemic. Anyone residing in the greater New Haven community is invited to submit reflections on the Hindsight 2020: New Haven website. Questions may be addressed to mailto:info@2020newhaven.com