Capturing COVID-19: The Living Record Initiative

In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we all experienced a significant, challenging time in history. Daily life had drastically changed, bringing uncertainty about what was to come. Amidst this period, a friend and I envisioned a project: encouraging young Chicagoans to document their pandemic experiences and preserving them for future reflection. This idea grew into a citywide initiative, resulting in thousands of young people contributing letters, art, photographs, and thoughts that illustrated their lives during this time and their hopes for the future.

This initiative evolved into Living Record, an organization that I now lead. Five years have passed, and we’ve begun reopening these time capsules. People across Chicago are exploring their contributions from a challenging era. For children in 2021, the pandemic disrupted their lives significantly. They shared in their capsules how they missed family, friends, and everyday activities such as soccer practice and birthday celebrations.

As we revisit these capsules, the remarks from young people today stand out. They express surprise, observing that past concerns may now seem trivial. Comments like, “Those kids were really sad. I wasn’t that sad,” highlight this shift. Present students recall pandemic moments spent with family, attending school from home, and feeling a release from usual school pressures. Their experiences seem disconnected from the loneliness often described in the capsules. This difference in perspective underscores a key lesson.

Time indeed modifies both circumstances and viewpoints. During the pandemic, young people couldn’t envision an end to their struggles. Challenges did pass, replaced by new ones, along with new experiences and relationships. This serves as a reminder that adversity isn’t lasting.

However, current times have sparked a sense of pessimism. Issues like political strife, economic instability, social separation, and distrust in institutions feel prevalent. Gallup’s recent polls reflect a record low in optimism among Americans. Yet, our exploration of the pandemic capsules suggests that today’s difficulties may not be permanent.

What will the next five years bring? What aspects of today’s challenges will fade into the background, and how will our memories shift?

Driven by these questions, Living Record partners with the Chicago Public Library and the Obama Presidential Center for a new time capsule project. As the nation nears its 250th anniversary, we invite visitors to share their thoughts about life today and their aspirations for the future. Their contributions will be sealed in a new time capsule, set to open in five years. Future generations will gain insights they lack now—what unfolds next.

Stacey Gillett is co-founder and executive director of Living Record, a nonprofit in Chicago that fosters connections between past, present, and future through art, storytelling, and time capsule experiences.

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