THUNDER BAY – A collection of items donated by St. Joseph’s Care Group will help the Thunder Bay Museum tell the story of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northwestern Ontario.
The collection is made up of digital and print records of the organization’s pandemic response, including internal COVID-19 updates to staff and physicians dating from just before the pandemic to the present day, and infection prevention and control signs.
St. Joseph’s Care Group president Kelli O’Brien said the collection will preserve a record of how the community reacted in a moment of crisis.
“Extraordinary things have been done by ordinary people to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said. “We are grateful to Thunder Bay Museum for preserving this moment in our community for future generations to see and learn from.”
Executive director Scott Bradley welcomed the donation in a statement.
“St. Joseph’s Care Group’s donation to the Thunder Bay Museum is extremely important to the broader historiography documenting how Thunder Bay responded to these world changing events,” he said. “Their generosity of time and objects towards preserving our collective history should be commended.”
Bradley also expressed hope other institutions would join in donating material that helps document Northwestern Ontario’s experience of the pandemic.
Those interested in donating items to the museum can contact donations@thunderbaymuseum.com, and can send annotated lists and photographs.
More information about the Thunder Bay Museum and its collections can be found online.
