In 2021, a coalition of national museum and library associations awarded the Peale (Baltimore, Maryland) a Communities for Immunity grant. The goal of the project is for trusted, local institutions to engage their communities in order to boost COVID-19 vaccine confidence. Since being awarded the grant, we've been gathering stories from people about their experiences with COVID and getting the vaccine.

Whitney Frazier (00:00): What do you say to people to convince them to get vaccinated? What are your one-liners?

Joy Ross (00:16): I just walk up to them and I'm like, "Did you get the COVID shot?"

Whitney Frazier (00:17): Okay.

Joy Ross (00:17): They like, "oh no."

Whitney Frazier (00:17): You just like, you don't even say hi or like, did you get the COVID shot?

Joy Ross (00:20): They like "no," and I like, you serious and we just start a conversation from there. Cause "hi" is like a weakness for, I know Baltimoreans, like saying hi is a way of saying, oh, she ain't from the city. So I have learned to negate that hi sometimes, I'm always saying hi to people, but if you just come out, what you got to say in Baltimore, it seemed like it's more effective than... Cause they get shocked by when you say hi.

Whitney Frazier (00:54): They don't want to, people don't like small talk. They just want to get right at it.

Joy Ross (00:57): Right.

Whitney Frazier (00:58): Like what you want. Okay. So you just straight up ask them, and then if they say, no, I haven't. You're like...

Joy Ross (01:07): What are you waiting for?

Whitney Frazier (01:09): Yeah. What are you waiting for?

Joy Ross (01:12): If you need help? Can I, you know what I mean? Like I tell them I'm a nurse. I can help you get it, if that's what you wanted. Like, "no, no, I don't want it," and then I'm like, "why, you allergic to it?" Like tell me, like you don't want, and then if they go into that story about, they killing us, then I use that as an educational forum because I'm always educating health wise on the streets.

Whitney Frazier (01:38): Right.

Joy Ross (01:38): So it's just easier for me to jump in there behind it's like the little drug boys around here. You know none of them have been vaccinated, and I wanted to know I'm like, you know what? You are at a high risk occupation here.

Whitney Frazier (01:55): You're interacting with a lot of people.

Joy Ross (01:56): Why [inaudible 00:01:57] vaccinating? You know, they're like, "no, Miss Joy I don't contact with people" and this and that. So I had to hit home when I said about your kids and your family. When you go there, it's like a wakeup call. So they've been vaccinated now they made a point to tell me they've been vaccinated.

Whitney Frazier (02:18): Wow.

Joy Ross (02:19): You know? Yeah. I told one, I call him the lead ring and he claim he isn't. But I think he is. I says, "the guys out front haven't been vaccinated." He says, "what's wrong with them?" I said, "I don't know." I said, "you've been in vaccinated." He said, "oh yeah." I said, "you need to go talk to them." So it's so casual, it's funny because they feel like they're always on guard anyway, because I used to call the police on them so much.

Whitney Frazier (02:53): Yeah.

Joy Ross (02:53): So now I realize I put them in harms way in so many ways.

Whitney Frazier (02:57): Oh, but you now have like a relationship where you can talk to them.

Joy Ross (03:02): Mm-hmm (affirmative)

Whitney Frazier (03:02): Yeah. That's powerful.

Joy Ross (03:06): Yeah. They're not so open with doing their drugs. They're discreet about it. If I see some strange people out here or lingering, so I let them know. They'll make sure that there's no one out here because I'm like, it's not safe.

Whitney Frazier (03:28): Yeah.

Asset ID: 2022.05.16
Find a complete transcription on the Peale's website.

Joy Ross: Making Connections with Neighborhood Youth, Baltimore

This story was submitted by Linda D. of Big Piney, Wyoming.

"My very first job was as a key punch operator at a work study program in high school. Key punch is a device for precisely punching holes into stiff paper cards in specific locations as determined by keys struck by a human operator, who in this case, was me. In many data processing applications, the punched cards were verified by a card verifier, who keyed exacted the same data a second time, checking to see if the second keying and punched data were the same. 

There was a great demand for key-punch operators, usually women, who worked full time on key punch machines, often with large key punch departments with dozens or hundreds of other operators--all performing data input. And, where I worked in Farmington, Connecticut, it was a very large facility. Key punches and punched cards were still commonly used for both data and program entry through the 1970s but were rapidly made obsolete by changes in the entry paradigm by the availability of inexpensive CRT computer terminals. Eliminating the step of transferring punched cards to tape or disc, with the added benefit of saving the cost of the cards themselves, allowed for improved checking and correction during the entry process. 

The development of video display terminals, interactive time share systems and later personal computers, allowed those who originated the data or program to enter it directly instead of writing it on forms to be entered by key punch operators. These cards were used for data by organizations such as the US Census Bureau and US Social Security Administration as well as for such diverse compilations as hydrographic data for navigation charts, in textile mills for programming looms as well as for entering time card information. Key punching was the kind of work that allowed one to shift their brain into autopilot. 

When one got good enough at keying, there was little thought required because the fingers would automatically move to the keys based on the numbers the eyes saw. In other words, it provided good experience and also let me know that being tied to a machine was not the kind of job I would be looking for after graduation."

This story was collected in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its national traveling exhibition "The Way We Worked" when it was on view in Big Piney, Wyoming in 2018. This story is part of the "Be Here: Main Street" story collection, intended to capture Americans' stories about their neighborhoods, waterways, towns, traditions, and personal experiences.

Photo of Key Punch Machine by Jkbw (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Asset ID: 7650

Working as a Key Punch Operator in Connecticut--Linda D.

Be Here: Baltimore Interview - Eric

Transportation & Rural Workers in Houston Co. Minn.

Tiffanys First Interview

In this vox pop assignment, student Tiffany Michels approaches Spring Grove-area resident Neil Mathison to ask him about his first job. You can hear how intently she listened to his responses by her strong follow-up questions. How did work on the family farm connected him to his present-day Houston Co. farming operation? Listen to this short clip to find out!

Vox Pop: "Tell me about your first job" by Tiffany Michels

Recorded in Orange Mound, Tennessee.

This snapshot was gathered in conjunction with the Museum on Main Street program at the Smithsonian Institution and its "Stories from Main Street" initiative. The project is intended to capture Americans' impressions and stories about their small-town and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal experiences, and cultural traditions.

What do you do for fun in your town?

"I grew up in Orange Mound in 1950's and I lived right across the street from a park, which had a great swimming pool, a great recreation program and that's where we went to have fun because every day all I had to do was walk across the street. I could either swim, I could play softball, I could play volleyball, I could do any of those things every day of the week except Saturday and Sunday. 

Also we had a great movie theater that we could go on the weekends. We had one right around the corner from us and then one up on another street. After the movie theater kind of closed up a little bit they had talent shows there. In the summer we had dances in the yard, okay, that was great.

Then we had the fairground even though we could only go one night, one day because it was segregated but we went that one day and we had a ball. So growing up on Orange Mound was never without something to do. 

Then we had the recreation center in the winter time. We could go there and we had dances there. A platter party was a big thing in growing up in Orange Mound because a sock hop or people had dances in their homes, they had a heaven and hell party where you could either eat hot spaghetti or you could eat ice cream and cake. The hail of course was the hot spaghetti."

Asset ID: 7452

Growing Up in Orange Mound in the 1950s, Tennessee

Recorded in Lawson, Missouri.

This snapshot was gathered in conjunction with the Museum on Main Street program at the Smithsonian Institution and its "Stories from Main Street" initiative. The project is intended to capture Americans' impressions and stories about their small-town and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal experiences, and cultural traditions, and work histories.

What's your favorite memory of living in a small town?

"In our small town, there are about 310 people, but I think they counted the chickens and the dogs. Even now when our family goes back for family reunion, we double the size of the population because there were 12 of us kids. We all go back with our families. I know I always liked it when the fire alarm went off because all you had to do was call my cousin Frankie's store once it was about 15 minutes later and she'd tell you everything that had happened. Who's barn burned down or who had a wreck, so you always knew. In the big city you don't know when you hear a siren what's going on. Back the, going to the movie theater, we'd take a dime and get pop from my cousin's grocery store. Then go watch the three stooges on the big screen. That was Saturday night."

Asset ID: 7365

Getting the Scoop in a Small Town, Missouri

Recorded in Lawson, Missouri.

This snapshot was gathered in conjunction with the Museum on Main Street program at the Smithsonian Institution and its "Stories from Main Street" initiative. The project is intended to capture Americans' impressions and stories about their small-town and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal experiences, and cultural traditions, and work histories.

What's your favorite memory of living in a small town?

"Well, I worked on a small family [inaudible 00:00:02] growing up. My brother-in-law that's a big city boy was back for a little bit and he walked up to a mud puddle at [Sommo 00:00:09] and asked my two twin brothers what they were doing poking around the mud and they looked at him and they said, 'We're going fishing!' He says, 'Right. Tell me another one.' About that time they reached in there, pulled out this great big old catfish out of that mud puddle. He didn't realize that the pond above had flooded the week before and all these mud puddles had fish that had been trapped. So, his eyes just shot wide open and after that he never knew what to believe and what not to."

Asset ID: 7364

Catching Fish in Mud Puddles, Missouri

Hear a complete interview with Kim Coble, Executive Director for the Maryland League of Conservation Voters. The interview is part of an unfolding collection of stories from prominent environmentalists in the state of Maryland, recorded in 2019, and supported by the Town Creek Foundation.

In this conversation, conducted by Eve Austin in collaboration with the Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture, Kim talks what each one of use can do to make a difference on climate change. "Every action does matter," she reflects. Kim also talks about the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes in order to find commonality. Find a complete transcript on the Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture's website: https://www.thepealecenter.org/stories-of-environmental-activism/

All materials from this collection will be preserved in the IUPUI Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives. ulib.iupui.edu/special

Kim Coble: Executive Director, Maryland League of Conservation Votes

Chicory Magazine captured the words, passions, debates, and anger of black Baltimore from 1966-1983. The Chicory Revitalization Project uses the power of poetry to promote civic dialogue about place, identity, and social justice.

In this playlist, students from Rutgers University read poems from the Chicory Magazine, while adding their own commentary about the poems' meaning and context.

Poem, GHETTO, Chicory issue 25, page 6. 

A ghetto is not a good place to live in
because it has trash and dirt 
and poor houses and rats. 
Some people made it out of the ghetto. 
Some didn't make it. 
Some people are talking about the funky ghetto. 
You ever heard of a funky ghetto. 
I read a couple of books about the ghetto. 
The things in the books was no joke. 
You might think it's a joke, but it's no joke.

"From 1966 to 1983, Chicory magazine published the poetry of mostly African American writers of all ages in Baltimore. The location I have assigned to the poem is 519 N Chester St # A, Baltimore, MD 21205, This address is located in Middle East Baltimore an area historically known as a ghetto. This poem is, 'Ghetto' by 13-year-old Lorenzo Biles, and it appeared in the May 1972 issue of the Magazine called Chicory. A ghetto is not a good place to live in because it has trash and dirt and poor houses and rats. Some people made it out of the ghetto. Some didn't make it. Some people are talking about the funky ghetto. You ever heard of a funky ghetto. I read a couple of books about the ghetto. The things in the books was no joke. You might think it's a joke but it's no joke. (Chicory Issue 25, Pg, 6). 

This poem speaks to me because of the relationship I have to it, during my early childhood i used to live in an area of Newark which was considered a ghetto. During the night time there was one thing that I'll always remember about that neighborhood, which was the constant sound of the ambulance and police near the house. Luckily, once I was six years old, my parents decided to move out of Newark and raise our family in a safer environment. 

Growing up in the ghetto and suburbs has prepared me in the best way possible for the world. I have learned both sides of the coin by learning how to act and protect myself in dangerous neighborhoods and I know how to act when in a formal setting which requires more of a professional appearance. These lessons I have learned have helped shape me into a versatile and adaptable man. Considering my position in life now, I can say that my parents have given me the best chance to succeed in this world. 

My name is Dante Ralph and I’m a student at Rutgers University-Newark. This audio essay is part of the Chicory Revitalization Project. To read more from Chicory, visit the Digital Maryland Repository online and follow the project on Instagram at Chicory_Baltimore.”

Asset ID: 8458

Chicory Revitalization Project: The Ghetto, a poem interpreted by Dante Ralph

The "Be Here" storytelling project, in conjunction with the Peale, Baltimore's Community Museum, and the Smithsonian's Stories from Main Street initiative, is an effort to gather and distribute stories about community life and places across the United States. The first version of this project began in 2011 with the Stories from Main Street storytelling initiative,  the brainchild of the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street (MoMS) team. Today, the Peale is partnering with Museum on Main Street to continue the storytelling campaign, often connected thematically to MoMS' traveling exhibitions about topics like work history, waterways, food culture, traditional music, hometown sports, etc. Anyone with an interest in life in America’s towns and communities can add their own experiences to the archive.

The "Be Here" program is an effort to diversify the voices of American cultural stories, stories especially about places that are important to people. To leave a story, download the "Be Here Stories" app on the App Store. Learn more at https://www.thepealecenter.org/bherebmore/

Working as a Key Punch Operator in Connecticut--Linda D.

Be Here Stories | Stories from Main Street