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”Life Became Very Blurry” is a podcast sharing the voices of Vermonters as they recall the experience of COVID-19. It is based on a three year project collecting oral histories and other records of the pandemic, and released in March 2025 for the fifth anniversary of the first lockdown. This podcast feed is home to a series of audio productions from the Vermont Historical Society, which believes that understanding the past changes lives and builds better communities. Our purpose is to engage Vermonters and Vermonters-at-Heart with outstanding collections, state-wide outreach, and dynamic programming.
Episodes
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
Prior to World War I, automobiles in Vermont functioned by and large as novelties or objects of curiosity. They were few in number (in 1906, there were 373 registered vehicles) and, according to William Wilgus (The Role of Transportation in the Development of Vermont), usage was confined to “individual pleasure and convenience.”
For more background on this episode, visit https://vermonthistory.org/early-autos-in-vermont-1902
Thursday Apr 09, 2020
Thursday Apr 09, 2020
In the years before the First World War, the electric trolley, spitting blue sparks, saw its heyday in Vermont, also its decline. The little four-wheel “bobbers” and the big eight-wheel, two-trucked interurbans carried 10 million passengers a year.
For more background on this episode, visit: https://vermonthistory.org/age-of-trolleys-1901
Monday Apr 06, 2020
Monday Apr 06, 2020
The “Dewey Day” celebration in Vermont occurred in Montpelier on October 12, 1899. On that day Vermonters staged a historic welcome home for native son Admiral George Dewey, whose success in destroying the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War made him the nation’s number one naval hero. Dewey’s exploit in the Philippines seemed to bring glory to Vermont and it became one the highlights of standard histories of the state.
For more background on this episode, visit https://vermonthistory.org/dewey-day-a-century-ends-1899