Documenting everyday life during the coronavirus pandemic

West Dunbartonshire Council’s Arts and Heritage team has put a call out to residents to capture local experience of the current coronavirus crisis.

The team has asked West Dunbartonshire locals to share their lockdown stories so that future generations have a record of what everyday life was like during their COVID-19 outbreak.

West Dunbartonshire Council’s archive looks after the area’s earliest documents. These include Medieval charters, which describe the powers and rights that were granted to the people of the local area, to minutes of Dumbarton Town Council from the 16th century, which document the decisions that were made about how the town should be run.

The archive also captures the stories of local people, from love letters sent between family members during times of separation, to photographs of family reunions. Evidence of how other national emergencies have affected West Dunbartonshire – such as how the Blitz devastated Clydebank - can be found in the archive. So too can records of celebration and hope, such as records of VE Day and the Queen’s Coronation.

The Arts and Heritage team are encouraging local people to submit things that highlight the impact that the pandemic has had on everyday life.

This could include:

  • Diaries
  • Photographs that show how life has changed – empty shelves, queues, notices of closed businesses
  • Posters and fliers from groups who play an important role in keeping vulnerable pepople safe
  • Artwork that has been created, from rainbows painted by children to cheer people up, to sketches of what you can see from your window

More information about the archive can be found at https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/libraries/archives-family-history/archives-collections/