Library planned symposium on preserving pandemic experiences

The American Folklife Center announced on February 24, 2026, that it would mark its 50th anniversary with a March 12–13 symposium at the Library of Congress. The scheduled gathering focused on how communities document and remember the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing artists, archivists and documentarians into a conversation about cultural heritage. ^[1]

Programs listed in the announcement included a virtual Kronos Quartet performance and keynotes by Farina King on Native American experiences and Elvia Arroyo-Ramírez on the PrisonPandemic project. Amythyst Kiah’s free March 12 evening concert was listed as requiring advance registration. ^[1]

The symposium sat within the COVID-19 American History Project, which the Library had launched in May 2023. That earlier announcement described a multiyear effort to preserve first-person accounts from frontline healthcare workers, people who lost loved ones and others affected by the pandemic, in partnership with StoryCorps. ^{[1] [2]}

The 2023 release also described an online guide to existing oral-history collections and research proposals using photographs, videos, field notes and audio recordings. The Library said the material would give historians, journalists and other users original sources for understanding individual and shared experiences. It also outlined public contributions through StoryCorps’ virtual tools. ^[2]

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