The WhoWeLost Project
Shelter Their Story: WhoWeLost.org
WhoWeLost.org publishes and shelters visitor-written remembrances of those we've lost to the pandemic. Created as a companion to the original Kentucky site, WhoWeLost has been featured on WBUR's "Here & Now" and received extensive media/press attention. The WhoWeLost Project is a safe space, free from virus politics and the toxicity of social media. The site features a "Writing Toolbox," designed to help anyone who needs encouragement or gentle direction as they write and helps support mourners as well as the mourned. Who We Lost: A Portable COVID Memorial, an anthology inspired by the project, was published by Belt Publishing in May 2023.
WhoWeLostKY.org
Originally conceived as a site to honor the memory of Covid-19 victims in Kentucky, WhoWeLostKY evolved and broadened its focus to be inclusive of the devastating losses in the Commonwealth due to floods and tornadoes. The same core principles applied: No judgments, no comments, no trolls. As of March 2024, the Kentucky stories have been incorporated into the national WhoWeLost website, making the project a unified endeavor.
Art & Images
Curated from stories and messages sent to the project, all site and social media images are authentic in origin and execution. Typed on a 1961 Olympia, then juxtaposed with vintage postcards, ephemera, fabric, and antique mourning jewelry, the photographs aim to spark meditative narratives rooted in detail.
Shelter Their Story
WhoWeLost.org is a safe space for remembrance. Designed to represent the ideas of both absence and presence, the site is quiet, respectful, and supportive.