Title Page & Abstract
An Interview with Lisa Badger
Part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
Tumultuous 2020 Oral History project
Interview # T20-A-L-2022-16
Lisa Badger, a Springfield community organizer and primary COVID-19 patient in Sangamon County, was interviewed on the date listed below as part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library’s Tumultuous 2020 Oral History project.
Interview dates & location:
Date: March 24, 2022
Location: ALPL Recording Studio, Springfield, Illinois
Interview Format: Digital audio
Interviewer: Amanda Riggenbach, Tumultuous 2020 project manager
Transcript being processed.
Transcription by: _________________________
Edited by: _______________________________
Total Pages: ______ Total Time: 1:57 / 1.95 hrs.
Accessioned into the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Archives on May 31, 2022.
The interview is archived at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois.
© 2022 Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
Abstract
Lisa Badger, Tumultuous 2020, T20-A-L-2022-16
Biographical Information/Overview of Interview: Lisa Badger was born in Springfield, Illinois, in 1979. She attended Springfield Southeast High School and graduated in 1997. She was always appreciative of the community in Springfield and became involved in different types of community activism. She graduated with her Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) license in 2012. She worked as a nurse for seven years before pursuing a degree to become an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse. She soon realized her interest lay in community organizing so she switched career paths and instead pursued a legal studies degree from Dominican University, receiving her Bachelor’s in 2017. She then received her Master’s of Conflict Resolution in 2018.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Badger was a park district trustee and was working as a community affairs specialist at the Illinois State Treasurers Office. She was deeply engaged in the Illinois community and took pride in the work she was doing for her city and state. She began to show symptoms for COVID-19 on March 6, 2020. She decided to stay home from work and call her doctor. Badger details the difficulty getting a COVID-19 test in the early days of the pandemic. She outlines the entire process and the days and weeks following her positive test result. Badger experienced violations in her privacy resulting in negative media attention. She and her family dealt with threats against them, including Badger’s daughter, who was a high school senior. Badger was sick with COVID-19 for twenty-three days, having high fevers and other intense symptoms. Throughout the interview, Badger details the long-term symptoms as well as the fallout of being one of the first individuals with COVID-19 in Sangamon County.
Subject Headings/Key Words: Tumultuous 2020; Tumultuous 2020 oral history; COVID-19, COVID-19 pandemic; first COVID-19 infection; Sangamon County; nurses; healthcare; COVID callousness;
Notes to the Reader: Readers of the oral history memoir should bear in mind that this is a transcript of the spoken word, and that the interviewer, interviewee and editor sought to preserve the informal, conversational style that is inherent in such historical sources. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is not responsible for the factual accuracy of the memoir, nor for the views expressed therein. We leave these for the reader to judge.
COPYRIGHT
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