WINNIPEG – The Manitoba Museum says it’s on the hunt for modern materials that can help preserve history in the making, and everyone in the province could have a future artifact without knowing it. Historians there are asking for donations of things that can help tell the now unfolding story of Manitoba’s COVID-19 experience long after the pandemic is over.

Curators at the museum had been looking at their archives for artifacts of Winnipeg’s 1918 influenza pandemic, and discovered they either hadn’t collected any or what had been collected either went missing or was discarded at some point. They’ve decided that, following the new pandemic of 2020, it’s important for the province to preserve what it can so that future generations can learn about it in detail.

They say, when it comes to COVID artifacts, the sky is the limit: curators are open to offers that tell unique stories, such as PPE, games used to avoid boredom during lockdowns, or letters sent to isolated loved ones. Since we all have experienced the pandemic differently, staff there expect a wide range of types of items that have been meaningful to them to help share stories from across the province.

The exhibitors note that items collected will be used for school programs and galleries as well as social and historical research, and may be exhibited during a future anniversary of the pandemic across the decades to come.

To share your story and offer an item that may be of interest, you can email a photo to info@manitobamuseum.ca.