Zachary Benz shares stories of his life in Hibbing, Minnesota during the time of COVID-19. He describes how he first heard about COVID-19 via Twitter, where he was posting material for his own project, the Daily Planet news site. He covered it as a news story himself and knew that it had the potential to “spread like wildfire, if unchecked.” He ...
Creator:
Benz, Zachary
Contributor:
Nicklawske, Mark
Created:
2020-08-28
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
William (Bill) Kosiak shares his perspective as a retired person living in Two Harbors, Minnesota during the COVID-19 pandemic. He describes how he first heard about COVID-19 on the news, and still watches the nightly news and reads many other news publications online. He shares his perspective of how there is quite a bit of misleading news or o...
Creator:
Kosiak, William (Bill)
Contributor:
Wright, Brooke
Created:
2020-09-16
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Vernon L. Simula shares his experiences of living during the COVID-19 pandemic. He tells us that he first became aware of the novel coronavirus in late December 2019 or in January 2020. He talks about the politicization of the news, describes his chosen news sources, and explains why he watches both MSNBC and Fox News. He describes some of the w...
Creator:
Simula, Vernon L.
Contributor:
O'Brien, Christopher
Created:
2020-08-10
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Toni Rasmussen shares stories about her life as a beauty salon owner and parent during the time of COVID-19 in Two Harbors, Minnesota. She describes how her salon was required to shut down for three months due to the risks of spreading COVID-19 starting in March 2020, which meant a loss of income for her as a self-employed salon owner. She felt ...
Creator:
Rassmussen, Toni
Contributor:
Wright, Brooke
Created:
2020-09-11
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Tom Hanson shares the experiences and challenges he has experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially how it has affected his businesses, including the Duluth Grill, OMC Smokehouse, and Corktown Deli. He describes his early life, his move to Duluth with his family, his progression from restaurant management to restaurant ownership with hi...
Creator:
Hanson, Tom
Contributor:
Lundgren, Paul
Created:
2020-08-27
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Timothy Broman shares his experiences of living under COVID-19 in Northeastern Minnesota. He describes how his visits with his 88-year-old mother, who also lives in Duluth, have changed over the months, from the beginning of the pandemic to now. Tim is currently working in retail and details the new safety procedures required at his job, which i...
Creator:
Broman, Timothy
Contributor:
Lundgren, Paul
Created:
2020-08-17
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Tiffani Skroch shares her experiences as a college student living and working during the COVID-19 pandemic. She recalls sitting in class when her Apple Watch buzzed with a news update about Coronavirus numbers rising, and remembers this moment to be the one when she took more seriously what was happening. She lists some of the mainstream news so...
Creator:
Skroch, Tiffani
Contributor:
Nicklawske, Mark
Created:
2020-09-25
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Thomas O’Rourke shares his experiences of living during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. He talks about his weekend getaway at a cabin with his wife and friends just before the lockdown happened, describing it as a “calm before the storm.” Tom is the executive director of the Hartley Nature Center in Duluth, Minnesota, which provides many prog...
Creator:
O'Rourke, Thomas
Contributor:
Thomas, Blake
Created:
2020-10-23
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Thomas Murray, or Pastor Tom, shares his experiences of life as a Lutheran pastor living on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is a pastor at two remote churches, one in Lutsen, Minnesota and the other in Finland, Minnesota. He talks about the changes in the lives of his parishioners, his c...
Creator:
Murray, Thomas
Contributor:
O'Brien, Christopher
Created:
2020-10-22
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Tera Amesbury shares stories about her life as a parent to four children during the time of COVID-19 in Two Harbors, Minnesota. She describes her concerns about her son’s health care needs continuing to be met in a time of medication shortages and pressure on hospitals due to COVID-19. Her son has Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, which is a form of epil...
Creator:
Amesbury, Tera
Contributor:
Wright, Brooke
Created:
2020-08-13
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Tate Haglund-Pagel shares his experiences of living during the COVID-19 pandemic. As an educator who is an instructional technology integration coach, he talks briefly about his work in the school system on the day students and teachers were sent home last spring. He says working from home is a mixed blessing; there have been some additional str...
Creator:
Haglund-Pagel, Tate
Contributor:
Jacobson, Katie
Created:
2020-10-25
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Suenary Philavanh shares stories of her life as a college student in Duluth during the time of the COVID-19 quarantine and shut-downs. She shares how she first heard about the virus before her spring break from college, and how she changed her trip from the original plan to go to Portland, Washington because cases were rising there. She describe...
Creator:
Philavanh, Suenary
Contributor:
Nicklawske, Mark
Created:
2020-08-27
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Sheila Packa shares her experiences living during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. She talks about the early months of 2020 when she first heard about the novel coronavirus. She tells us that she keeps a journal and refers to it when she is looking back and reflecting on these early days. She talks about her partner, Kathy, and their decision ...
Creator:
Packa, Sheila
Contributor:
O'Brien, Christopher
Created:
2020-10-01
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Shannon Walz shares her experiences living and working during the COVID-19 pandemic. She remembers the precautionary measures implemented while working at an environmental learning camp in the state of Washington over ten years ago during the H1N1 flu outbreak. Based on that experience she recounts her reaction to COVID-19 in the early days of t...
Creator:
Walz, Shannon
Contributor:
O'Brien, Christopher
Created:
2020-09-28
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Sarah Curtiss shares her experiences living during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. She begins the interview by introducing herself in Ojibwe. Sarah is the co-executive director of the non-profit Men As Peacemakers and describes what the organization is, the many ways they serve the community, and how COVID-19 has impacted much of what they do...
Creator:
Curtiss, Sarah
Contributor:
O'Brien, Christopher
Created:
2020-08-25
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Sarah Brokke discusses her work and experiences as a visual artist and art professor at St. Scholastica in Duluth, both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic began. She shares her experience with traveling in Bali just as the pandemic was beginning, and returning to a home that seemed changed. She discusses how teaching changed so much when it ...
Creator:
Brokke, Sarah
Contributor:
Scholtz, Mike
Created:
2020-07-30
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Sandra Maxwell shares her experiences living in Finland, Minnesota during the COVID-19 pandemic. She says that she and her husband have National Public Radio on “all the time” so she first heard about the novel coronavirus very early, in mid or late January. She tells us that she considers herself a solitary person who doesn’t mind being by hers...
Creator:
Maxwell, Sandra
Contributor:
O'Brien, Christopher
Created:
2020-09-11
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Samuel Miltich speaks about the impacts of COVID-19 on his life and his music career. He recounts how in March he was performing in Florida and had to depart early, just as the country was beginning to shut down. He says the pandemic led to the cancellation of his rigorous schedule of on-the-road performances. He talks about how the economic imp...
Creator:
Miltich, Samuel
Contributor:
Villiard, Moira
Created:
2020-08-07
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Salaam F. Witherspoon shares her experiences living during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. She recalls first hearing about the novel coronavirus on Facebook and that she initially thought it was a joke. She recounts the days when the schools were closing and the churches were closing, as the time she realized it was real. She has since known ...
Creator:
Witherspoon, Salaam F.
Contributor:
Spehar, Elizabeth
Created:
2020-10-02
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth
Robin Washington shares experiences from his life and work during the COVID-19 pandemic. He lists the news outlets he turns to for information and says that as a journalist he is well connected to colleagues and their work and explains that because of these connections, the information in his social media feed tends to be quite reliable compared...
Creator:
Washington, Robin
Contributor:
Thomas, Blake
Created:
2020-10-28
Contributed By:
Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth