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The Library of Virginia is collecting photographs of signs, marquees and more around the commonwealth for its "Signs of the Time: COVID-19 in Virginia" project.
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These are historical times, and part of the Library of Virginia's mission is to serve as an archive of important documents and ephemera. The challenge for collecting institutions in these COVID-19-infected days: How do they continue identifying today's scraps of currency that will mature into tomorrow's artifacts?
Floods, fires and war leave traces or pieces of what happened behind. The after effects of epidemics are more difficult to trace.
This is where technology steps in.
The library is assembling on its "Signs of the Time: COVID-19 in Virginia" Tumblr page the various storefront notifications of closures, modified hours and other messages to the public. “The Library is not encouraging people to leave home in order to take photos,” a release explains, “but rather to help us document signs you might see as you venture out for supplies or takeout food in your Virginia communities.”
Dale Neighbors, the library's visual studies collection coordinator, wants to record the visual imagery of the impact on Virginians’ public lives with the halting of regular business and social interaction.
“As businesses and restaurants were just beginning to post signs announcing changes in hours and services offered, I wanted to seize the moment before such items, and the memories associated with them, faded away. Photographing these ephemeral signs and submitting them to the library is a way of preserving history as it's happening.”
These temporary notices are often made in haste and may not only convey information but address the connection of a business or service to the wider community. The signs, most often of paper or other short-lasting materials and taped to doors and shop windows, indicate where to collect or drop off products, remind people of physical distancing, and communicate health-related practices.
As Virginia gradually moves toward reopening businesses, many of the original signs are getting removed or changed (which is a sign, too), but the submitted photographs will be archived for historic reference.
