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Community Partners

The Rhode Island COVID-19 Archive was launched in April 2020 in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic and was closed to submissions on June 30, 2023. The site and all contributions will be preserved by Providence Public Library and Rhode Island Historical Society.

What is a Community Partner?

In order to widen the coverage of the Rhode Island COVID-19 Archive, we actively seek collaborations with schools, nonprofits and other organizations that are creating their own documentation projects related to the pandemic.

We are deeply grateful to our community partners, listed below, for their generous contributions of time, resources, and networks– all of which allow us to expand the scope of the Rhode Island COVID-19 Archive. Together, we address the complex issue of representation in historical archiving and leverage our resources to build an archive that represents the diversity of experience from communities and individuals throughout Rhode Island. With support from our community partners, we can continue to build an archive that will serve to inform future generations of what life was like for Rhode Islanders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We love working with groups who are documenting the experience of their specific communities! If you are part of an organization that would like to become a partner, please contact us.

	Adaptive Practices Adaptive Practices was an interactive project developed at Providence Public Library in the spring of 2020 as the pandemic necessitated closing public spaces and prohibited public gatherings. PPL asked six of the library's Creative Fellows to share their work with us in a way that would allow us to see and maybe even experience how they navigate and negotiate these conditions of uncertainty and unfamiliarity, and the result was this project.
	Barrington Middle School Classroom teachers, Diana Ouellette and Traci Taglione, asked sixth-grade Lime Cluster students at Barrington Middle School in Barrington to document their lives during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order in a journal that also included a time capsule, poems, letters and pictures of their experiences.
	Bryant University In these five essays, first year college students in Professor Martha Kuhlman's Writing Workshop 106 class at Bryant University reflect on their experiences under the COVID lockdown at the end of August, 2020. To help students think about how to represent this difficult time, we read “We can’t comprehend this much sorrow” by Teju Cole, which was published in the New York Times May 18, 2020.
	Coronacast The Coronacast was an online video interview series completed between March and June 2020. This series was an attempt to connect with thoughtful, courageous people who were finding their own paths through an unprecedented time.
	Cranston Public Library Cranston Public Library invited library patrons, and community members to visit the library to have their portrait taken, and to answer the following question: “What is something positive that came out of 2020 for you personally?” This project was created as a way to share people’s stories, and spread positivity and joy in a year filled with challenges and loss.
	De La Salle Middle School De La Salle Middle School in Providence is a Catholic, college preparatory education in the Lasallian tradition for young people in grades 6-8 from Rhode Island.
	Henry Barnard School Classroom teachers, Sarah Hess and Michelle Nonis, asked the second grade students at Henry Barnard School in Providence to document their lives during the COVID-19 stay-at-home-order by creating a time capsule and journal.
	Laurelmead Cooperative Laurelmead Cooperative, is an active, 55+ independent community, located on the Seekonk River, only 5 minutes from downtown Providence. As a cooperative, shareholders guide all major decisions, governed by a Board of Directors comprised of members who are selected via annual resident elections, and guided by resident committees: Activities, Budget & Finance, Buildings & Grounds, Dining, Health & Fitness, and Marketing. Laurelmead’s mission is to support independence and enriched senior living.
	@mask_up_ri Mask Up RI is an initiative to promote the importance of masking up during this Covid-19 pandemic. Showcasing Rhode Island citizens wearing masks and doing their duty for the health of others and themselves. Created by @styleweek, @rmopublicrelations & @goprovidence. Tag @mask_up_ri!
	North Providence High School Sophomores in American History/ Civics I at North Providence High School were asked by their teacher Mrs. O'Brien to reflect upon their lives in lockdown over the past year. Students expressed their voices in both a narrative and poetic format, showcasing their personal voices for future generations to read and learn how everyday high school students felt during the pandemic of 2020.
	Paul Cuffee School Paul Cuffee School, a K-12 public charter school of choice, educates a diverse community of students from Providence, Rhode Island. In the spirit of Paul Cuffee’s life, we teach students to value and practice personal initiative, perseverance, and social responsibility. Graduating seniors were asked to write a reflective essay on what "I am Paul Cuffee 2020" means to them
	Providence College Providence College student Sarah Heavren (‘21) worked under the supervision of Dr. Steven Carl Smith with the Providence College Department of History and Classics and Becca Bender of the Rhode Island Historical Society to collect oral histories from members of the Providence College community. From professors and students adapting to online learning to friars and staff working to maintain a safe college atmosphere, the collection captures the voices of students, professors, friars, staff, alumni, and more.
	Segue Institute for Learning Humanities teachers John Rosenbaum, Joshua Chevalier, and Caely Flynn, asked students from Segue Institute for Learning in Central Falls to choose from several different projects in order to document their experiences and reflect on life during the Spring of 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 quarantine. Central Falls was especially hard hit by the COVID-19 outbreak.
	The Wheeler School The Cityside program at the Wheeler School is a a year-long interdisciplinary experience embedded in the City of Providence for 8th graders. The program leverages Providence’s 25 neighborhoods, working with various NGOs, non-profit organizations, community groups, and branches of government to provide a rich curriculum for civic engagement, project-based learning, inquiry, and research.
	William D'Abate Elementary School William D'Abate Elementary School is located in the heart of Olneyville. The school's mission is to educate and nurture every child to their fullest potential, academically and socially. The school's vision - a K-5 elementary school where every staff member, every family and every community partner takes full responsibility for helping every child to achieve our school mission.
	Winman Middle School Classroom teacher, Julie Connors-Costello, asked her eighth-grade students at Winman Middle School in Warwick to document their lives during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order They were given prompt options such as "a day in the life" or "note to past and future selves" with output options including writing pieces or a media presentation.
	Write Rhode Island Write Rhode Island: Our Lives Now is a flash non-fiction program, co-created by School One and local authors Hester Kaplan and Taylor Polites, that invites young people in grades 7-12 in the state of Rhode Island to reflect on their current experience during the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020. If you would like to contribute to this program, please visit our submissions page for guidelines.