Telling her-stories in Canada: Documenting COVID-19 in your voice

The University of Ottawa Library is working on a small scale pilot project to build a unique and special collection around your stories and experiences of and during the COVID-19 pandemic as a woman in Canada. The Library is currently home to the Women’s Archives, an invaluable resource for those examining the history of women in Canada. By actively collecting the stories of how the pandemic has impacted you, we can ensure that the historical record of the pandemic will include your stories, voices, and perspectives.

Visit the COVID-19: Telling her-stories collection

As we digitally archive your contributions, they will be made  available online in the Archives and Special Collections database. Explore the collection.

Why is this important?

History has often overlooked the experience of women. Her-stories have been invisible and oftentimes little is known about the true impact of major events on the lives of women (told from their own perspective). The content you share will let us hear your voice and share your experience with others now and in the future. Through your stories, we can understand your successes, struggles, happiness, and disappointments as well as how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted you, for example, in terms of economics, health, career, unpaid care work, and domestic violence, etc.

Other places to share your story

The City of Ottawa Archives and Carleton University's Corporate Records and Archives and the Archives and Special Collections are also collecting stories related to individual experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic.  If you have a story to tell but feel like your story doesn't match our project focus, you can learn about the collecting efforts of our partner institutions.