Alexandria, VA – The National Women’s History Museum (NWHM) is pleased to launch Women Writing History: A Coronavirus Journaling Project, an initiative designed to ensure that women and girls’ unique voices and experiences are not left out of the telling of the COVID-19 story. Through this project, women and girls of all ages can participate through the simple act of recording their daily thoughts and experiences during this time in order to document the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on women’s lives.

“Despite being more than 50% of the population, women have largely been left out of the history books. When they’re included at all, their stories are often episodic components woven into a larger narrative centered on the experience and accomplishments of men,” said Holly Hotchner, president and CEO of the National Women’s History Museum. “Sociologists and economists warn us that the COVID-19 pandemic is and will disproportionately affect women’s lives more so than men, and we want to ensure that women’s stories are recorded and shared, so that future history books are informed by women’s experiences during this global health crisis. This project really speaks to who we are as an institution. There’s an urgency to record women’s history as it unfolds.”

The Museum invites individuals of all ages, backgrounds, cultures, and socio-economic circumstances to be a part of living history by keeping a journal in 30, 60, 90, 120-day, or any longer or shorter increments, and contributing their journalistic efforts to the National Women’s History Museum. Journals can be written, orally recorded, video recorded, a series of photographs, or original artworks—the primary goal of this project is to capture the female voice and how the pandemic has impacted daily lives and perspectives. Journal entries might provide a summary of one’s day, descriptions of the “new normal,” coping techniques, explorations of challenges or even moments of joy, or inside views of how learning and working routines have altered.

The Museum particularly encourages essential and healthcare workers, and others on the frontlines of this pandemic, to participate, as frontline experiences are exceptionally important to understanding the full scope of this pandemic.

The journals will be used as a living archive of women’s lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as for online and physical exhibits, articles, publications, and scholarly research. This archive will also hold a special place in the future physical site of the National Women’s History Museum in Washington, D.C.

Those interested in participating in Women Writing History: A Coronavirus Journaling Project should begin by filling out the participation form on the Museum’s website. A Frequently Asked Questions page about this project is available here.