The purpose of the HIST 2005 mini-project oral history of the COVID-19 pandemic is two-fold: First, it presents an opportunity to put into practice the key methods of oral history, including project design, interviewing, preservation, and dissemination. Second, it provides documentation (to the University of Minnesota Morris Archives) of a momentous time in global history from a local perspective. To that end, the interviews will address the perspectives and diverse personal experiences of Minnesotans who were teenagers during the early days of the pandemic. Topics may include the initial lockdown, social isolation, online schooling and other educational effects, social responses narrators encountered, health fears and impacts, emotional outcomes and mental health, and work. How did this extraordinary time shape the ordinary lives of our storytellers going forward?
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Rob Johnson Interview, 2025
Rob Johnson and Peyton Snow
Rob Johnson discusses his experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic when he was a high school senior in Bemidji, Minnesota and a first year college student at Colby College in Maine.
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Lex Lhotka Interview, 2025
Lex Lhotka and Rob Johnson
Lex Lhotka discusses their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic when they were a high school sophomore in Morris, Minnesota.
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Peyton Snow Interview, 2025
Peyton Snow and Jayson Weber
Peyton Snow discusses her experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic when she was a middle school student living in Owatonna, Minnesota.
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Jayson Weber Interview, 2025
Jayson Weber and Travis Godfrey
Jayson Weber discusses his experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic when he was a high school senior in Morris, Minnesota and as an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota Morris.
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Eli Westacott Interview, 2025
Eli Westacott and Lex Lhotka
Eli Westacott discusses their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.