This commentary is by Amanda Kay Gustin of Barre City. She is the director of collections and access at the Vermont Historical Society and has worked in museums and archives for nearly 25 years.

In March 2020, thanks to Covid-19, the world as we knew it changed forever.

As an historian, I’ve spent my life trying to understand the past, to put myself in the shoes of people across centuries, and to trace the lines of decisions and trends that led us to where we are now. Though I’d already lived through historic events, never before had I so clearly felt the tides of history turning in real time.

Within days of the pandemic lockdown orders, the Vermont Historical Society set up systems for capturing what was happening, and within weeks I outlined a project that began in September 2022. That fall, we started work that would ultimately take the better part of the next three years.

Field interviewers spanned the state and interviewed over 100 Vermonters about their experiences. Our only guiding question was, “What has the experience of Covid-19 been like for you?” Then we listened.

We heard stories of joy and pain, of change and stasis, coming from every corner of Vermont, every walk of life, and every facet of human experience. Covid-19 was both a universal and an intensely private experience, and every single person’s story was a kaleidoscope of humanity. These experiences are now preserved and held in the public trust, available to generations of future historians.

Funding for this crucial project came from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency that supports projects like this one nationwide. It’s one of the key partners for history organizations to advance big, ambitious projects, and VHS has used it in the past for other collecting projects and key initiatives to preserve Vermont’s history. Though the Covid-19 project is wrapping up, we have another ongoing grant from IMLS that teaches professional skills to Vermont’s dozens of local historical societies.

On Friday, March 14, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to eliminate IMLS, describing it as “unnecessary.” VHS and hundreds of organizations like ours do not know if we will receive reimbursement funding for the work we have already done, and whether we can continue important work that we have planned in the coming months and years.

Good history work is not profitable or efficient. It requires time and care and focus, with dedicated people at every step. It requires the passion of local volunteers, the expertise of trained educators, librarians and collections managers, and it requires funding. In Vermont, for many projects, it requires national funding partners and federal agencies. 

History is not “unnecessary.” It is the record of our shared humanity, and the way that we learn lessons about how to go forward. Understanding what happened during Covid-19 will help us process our painful experiences and plan better for how to respond to similar events in the future. 

Without history, we are lost. And without federal funding partners like IMLS, we will lose the tools that we need to do the work of history.

Plié It Cool

Sunday 30

Catamount Arts hosts Houston Ballet II, a student-centric arm of America’s fourth-largest dance company, for a showcase of mesmerizing and diverse works at Lyndon Institute. The stellar cast of budding young artists from around the world performs excerpts from timeless masterpieces “The Sleeping Beauty,” “Don Quixote” and “A Dance in the Garden of Mirth.”

Imagination Nation

Ongoing

Brattleboro Museum & Art Center’s seventh iteration of the crowd-favorite “Glasstastic” exhibit features fanciful sculptures precisely rendered from elementary schoolkids’ drawings of imaginary creatures. New England glass artists selected the 21 finalists out of 1,000 submissions from across the country, then transformed their colorful, quirky creations into sparkling 3D works of art.

Teen Spirit

Thursday 27-Saturday 29

Addison Repertory Theatre — Vermont’s only technical education program for stagecraft — marks 30 years of enriching students’ lives with its original work I’ll Tell You a Secret at the Patricia A. Hannaford Career Center in Middlebury. The full-length stage play, written and designed by teens, delivers spooky vibes in spades with a ghost-focused plot and chill-inducing tech effects and illusions.

No Frets Given

Friday 28

Isidore String Quartet make their Middlebury debut at the college’s Mahaney Arts Center with a classical-meets-contemporary program titled “Unrequited.” The Juilliard School-born ensemble brings passionate playing to the concert hall with works reflecting the often complicated pathways of love, featuring treasured composers spanning centuries — from Ludwig van Beethoven to Billy Childs.

Good Mourning

Opens Friday 28

Small Potatoes Theater mounts Pamela Formica’s gripping new play series Switch at Off Center for the Dramatic Arts in Burlington. The four short works traverse labyrinthine themes from which folks tend to shy away, such as loss and death, and urge audience members to confront the messy, absurd and even laughable ways in which our species grapples with the inevitable.

Chef’s Kiss

Saturday 29

This month’s Food for Talk Cookbook Book Club at Fletcher Free Library in Burlington gathers gastronomes for an unmissable culinary chat about José Andrés’ James Beard Award-winning foodie bible, The World Central Kitchen Cookbook. Recipe contributor Sam Chapple-Sokol joins to share anecdotes about the collection’s content, which centers on feeding communities during global crises.

Play Favorites

Sunday 30

Capital City Concerts returns with series founder and Grammy-nominated flutist Karen Kevra at the Unitarian Church of Montpelier. Pianist Jeffrey Chappell joins the lauded musician and educator in a jubilant program titled “Her Favorite Things: Celebrating Three Decades of Music-Making in Vermont” — a nod to Kevra’s extraordinary musical journey since moving to the golden dome city.

A little bit of snow is possible in Vermont today, particularly in the higher elevations.

Much of New York and Vermont, including Burlington, are under a hazardous weather warning with anything from a dusting to three inches of snow possible, depending on location, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). The snow will likely begin during the morning commute.

“A quick moving system will bring snow showers to the North Country today with light accumulations. 1-2 inches are possible across southern Vermont, up to 3 inches for higher terrain, and a dusting to around an inch is expected elsewhere,” the advisory says. “Some slick conditions will be possible for the morning commute.”

By the afternoon, the weather is forecasted to shift to rain.

“Afternoon showers in valleys should be mainly rain, but some snow could mix in at times if precipitation rates increase,” the Forecaster’s Discussion says. “The winds will remain breezy with this system, so gusts to around 30 mph are anticipated keeping conditions feeling quite brisk for late March.”

What’s the prediction for the rest of the week in Burlington?

It’s a cold start to the week.

AccuWeather is forecasting their could be a few snow or rain showers again on Tuesday, with a low of 33 degrees and a high of 44.

On Wednesday, the forecast is “cloudy with a flurry” and a low of 28 degrees and a high of 41.

Thursday is the first day of the week there is no precipitation in the forecast, with partly sunny skies and a low of 31 degrees and a high of 49.

Friday is expected to be cloudy, and so is Saturday, which could hamper views of the partial solar eclipse, which will start right at dawn on Saturday.