mask
notes: label: Description
content: This mask is an example of the early face coverings made by volunteer mask-maker Joan Crown Hodges during the Covid-19 pandemic to help protect others from the virus; it is based on the original pattern she used. Early in the pandemic, supplies of personal-protective equipment (PPE) including face coverings were limited, and many everyday philanthropists, particularly women, donated their time and other resources to sew masks on their own or as part of groups.
label: Description
content: A longtime English teacher in the Henrico (Virginia) County Public School system, Hodges made and donated thousands of masks before commercially-produced masks became widely available. She began sewing masks around the time many institutions, including schools and workplaces, abruptly shut down in March 2020, largely confining millions of people to their homes. Through social media, Hodges publicized her offer of free masks and received requests, which she tracked in a small notebook. She also connected with other “freemaskers” or volunteer mask-makers, who exchanged mask patterns and fabric with one another. Like other volunteer mask-makers, Hodges turned to her scrap basket for some of her material, and her mother even gave her decades-old fabric from her mother’s (Hodges’s grandmother’s) sewing chest. Fabric that Hodges’s grandmother had used to make clothes for Hodges and her sister for kindergarten in the 1970s became pandemic face-coverings. Meanwhile, Hodges also received donations of material from as far away as Japan. Among the recipients of her masks were the Richmond (Virginia) Virtual PRIDE Festival and a school in New Orleans, which received hundreds of Hodges’s masks. In response to particular requests, Joan made some special masks, such as the rainbow PRIDE mask, and she kept samples of some of those, including those now in the National Museum of American History’s collection. She also made a mask as a tribute to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a hero of hers who she had had the opportunity to meet a few years before the pandemic. By the winter of 2020, as the need for homemade masks was starting to wane, Hodges used fabric scraps to make tiny masks as Christmas tree ornaments to she sent as gifts with orders as a memento of the pandemic experience. She recalled, “My busiest time was from March 2020 to end of summer-- I made A TON before the school year for kids going to in-person colleges, teachers, students whose schools were not virtual, etc. And of course, always for medical personnel. I had requests for a lot of kids' sized masks since they weren't as easy to come by. Honestly, I just sewed for about 6-8 hours a day sometimes. It kept my hands busy and mind occupied, and I think it's how I stayed happy and "zen" throughout the pandemic.” Reflecting on some of the special masks she made in response to requests, Hodges noted that “I feel like their stories connect me to so many people which is really the most special thing to come out of all of this.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: associated subject
content: 2019 novel coronavirus disease
label: associated subject
content: Infectious diseases
label: associated subject
content: COVID-19 (Disease)
label: associated subject
content: Public Health
label: associated subject
content: 2019-nCoV disease
label: associated subject
content: Disease prevention
label: related event
content: COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Philanthropy
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Joan Crown Hodges
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2022.0021.01
label: accession number
content: 2022.0021
label: catalog number
content: 2022.0021.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: mask
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: textile (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8.6 cm x 31 cm x .05 cm; 3 3/8 in x 12 7/32 in x 1/32 in