The Museum of Durham History believes in the importance of capturing the unique stories of our history. We invite you to visit our newest exhibit, Stranger Times, co-curated by five Durham Public Schools students. The exhibit explores the pandemic from the Durham teen point of view, using Durham natives Matt and Ross Duffer’s Emmy-award-winning Netflix Series “Stranger Things,” as a platform for reflection.

Join the exhibit! Members of the Durham Book Club shared their memories of their pandemic educations and how a love of reading mediated a lack of social interaction. Record your own thoughts, reflections and COVID experiences in the museum’s Story Room at your convenience on our website or write your story and send pictures to info@modh.org. We create together, so let’s remember together:

When I look back on all my zoom experiences during the pandemic, one of the most positive standouts is definitely Durham Book Club. Durham Book Club is a program within the nonprofit StrongHER TogetHER, designed to connect middle schoolers through reading. From the start, it was such a positive group of people, and it was so nice to be able to talk to kids with shared interests. That was especially true in a time when there was such limited social interaction. Some of my favorite memories from 2020 are talking with authors and meeting new people. As terrible as the pandemic was, book club probably wouldn’t have begun if there hadn’t been the incentive to find a way to connect without ever meeting in person. I can definitely say I’m incredibly grateful for that, and all the opportunities it brought with it.

-Mira Riffer, Durham Book Club Student Leader and Partner Liaison