Documenting the Wellesley College COVID-19 Experience


about this project

The Wellesley College community is collectively navigating the unique challenges of our personal, academic, and professional lives during the global COVID-19 crisis. The Wellesley College Archives seeks to document the individual experiences that are part of the collective story of Wellesley at this time, and to shed light on how our unique identities intersect with the global pandemic. We invite students, faculty, staff, and alumnae to donate materials to be collected, preserved, and shared as a part of the official historic record of the College.

We invite members of the college community to donate materials. Donations will be accepted on an ongoing basis.


What can i Donate?

Examples of donations can include, but are not limited to:

  • Artistic representations of experiences leaving Wellesley or life in quarantine

  • Course assignments

  • Blogs or podcasts

Formats accepted:

  • Text (journaling, poetry, essays, course assignments)

  • Photographs

  • Video (maximum file size 1GB)

  • Audio (maximum file size 1GB)

  • Web-based projects

  • Zines or scrapbooks

how do I donate?

Click on the following links to upload materials:



read before donating

  • Are there other people represented in the files you want to submit? Would they be okay with you donating these files to the Archives?

  • Please use the following format for naming your files: LastnameFirstname_COVID-19

  • Wellesley College Archives reserves the right to refuse donations that fall outside the scope of our collection development guidelines.

  • Do you have access to the files you want to donate? You will need to upload them from your computer.

FAQ

  • Q. Can I submit physical materials?

  • A. At this time, Archives staff are telecommuting and are unable to accept physical donations to the archives, but once staff return to the building we will be happy to consider any non-digital donations on this topic. Please contact archives@wellesley.edu to arrange any donation of physical materials.

  • Q. What happens to my materials once they are donated?

  • A. Materials submitted through this site will become donations to the Wellesley College Archives and are subject to restrictions stipulated by the donor. Once the restriction period for donated materials has expired, the donated materials will be provided, upon request, to library users for research purposes.

  • Q. I am having trouble submitting materials. Who can I reach out to?

  • A. Please email archives@wellesley.edu and staff will help you out!

  • Q. I would like to participate, but need help getting my ideas into an acceptable format. Can library staff help me with this?

  • A. Yes! Please contact archives@wellesley.edu with any questions.

  • Q. I would like to donate multiple items. Do I just fill out one form for this?

  • A. You may upload up to 10 items at a time as long as they do not exceed the 1GB size limit. If you would like to submit more than 10 items, please contact archives staff at archives@wellesley.edu.

  • Q. Can you submit my files for me?

  • A. Here is a link to the website, where you can find links that will guide you through the process of donating materials. It is important to read through and sign donation forms, as they guide when Archives staff can provide access to your materials to researchers. For technical assistance, please contact helpdesk@wellesley.edu. For any other questions related to the submission forms, please contact the Archives at archives@wellesley.edu.

  • Q. How do I submit multiple files? Should I combine them before sending?

  • A. You can attach up to 10 files to each submission form, and you can submit each form as many times as you want. Please make sure all the information you enter in the form, such as title, description, and restriction period, applies to each file that you’ve attached. You are welcome to combine files before sending, but it is not required. Please make sure all the information you enter in the form, such as title, description, and restriction period, applies to the entire combined file. If you have more than 50 files to donate, please email archives@wellesley.edu.

  • Q. Can I submit my students’ work?

  • A. Please ask your students to submit their work directly. We need them to fill out the submission form, which grants us permission to accept the work and make it available to researchers.

  • Q. Can I submit a screenshot of my Zoom class?

  • A. Yes, but please make sure you have permission from all students who are visible in the screenshot.

  • Q. Can I donate a website or social media page?

  • A. The Archives does not have the capacity to accept websites or social media pages at this time. We would be happy to work with you to identify portions of your website or social media page that are in the scope of the documentation project.

  • Q. My department publishes a newsletter/magazine and our latest issue has information related to the pandemic. How can I donate a copy?

  • A. The Archives attempts to collect a complete run of all newsletters and magazines produced on campus. If you already submit your publication to the Archives, you don’t need to submit specific issues to this documentation project. If your publication isn’t in the Archives yet, or if you aren’t sure whether we have it, please email archives@wellesley.edu so we can follow up. If you have materials related to the pandemic that didn’t make it into your published issue, you can use our submission forms to donate them to the Archives.

  • Q. I have a question that isn’t answered here.

  • A. We’re happy to help! Please email archives@wellesley.edu and a member of the Archives team will follow up.