Opinion — Amanda Kay Gustin: Without history, we are lost

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.