Barbara Whitehead was born in Rochester, Minnesota, the oldest of eight children, and grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin. She received a bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago. She moved to Western Massachusetts in 1974 with her husband Ralph, with whom she raised two daughters and a son. In this interview, Whitehead discusses the experience of being a caregiver to her husband and late daughter prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to her husband during the pandemic. She discusses grieving her daughter while socially isolated, the ways that she, friends, and family maintained connections despite physical separation, and her reflections on lessons learned from the pandemic.
[Narrator name], recorded interview by [Interviewer Name], [Date], (page number), Franklin Medical Reserve Corps Resiliency During COVID-19 Pandemic Oral History Project, Nahman-Watson Library at Greenfield Community College.