Title Page & Abstract
An Interview with Gloria Spear
Part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
Tumultuous 2020 Oral History project
Interview # T20-A-L-2022-34
Gloria Spear, Coles County Health Department Administrator, 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: April 22, 2022
Location: Phone interview conducted at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library’s Recording studio
Interview Format: Digital audio
Interviewer: Philip Pogue. ALPLM volunteer
Total Time: 1:17 / 1.28 hrs.
Accessioned into the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Archives on August 8, 2022.
The interview is archived at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois.
© 2022 Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
Abstract
Gloria Spear, Tumultuous 2020, T20-A-L-2022-34
Biographical Information Overview of Interview: Gloria Spear was born in Mattoon, Illinois in 1970. She was raised in Mattoon and attended Mattoon High School. During high school, Gloria was active in student council, Key club, cheerleading, and the foreign exchange club, graduating in 1988. Spear began college at Eastern Illinois University but found it too close to her hometown. She studied at Lake Land Community College before transferring to University of Illinois. Eager to join the workforce, she left college during her final semester. She worked for a law firm in Champaign, Illinois, before moving back to Mattoon to work for Coca-Cola. She was eventually hired at the Coles County Health Department where she worked as a sanitary inspector and as the Director of Environment Health. During this time, she completed a Bachelor of General Studies and Masters in Health Promotion and Leadership from Eastern Illinois University in 2014 and 2017, respectively. In March of 2022, she was promoted to Coles County administrator.
Spear discusses the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic brought to Coles County. Located directly on the eastern border of the state and neighboring Indiana, the Coles County Health Department faced unique challenges. Spear describes these challenges, detailing the services the health department typically provides, how they evolved with the pandemic, and the new services they offered. They had to create infrastructure for contact tracing, provide vaccination sites, and operate in four health regions. Spear concludes the interview by sharing her personal experiences with the pandemic.
Headings/Key Words: Tumultuous 2020, Tumultuous 2020 oral history; Gloria Spear; Coles County Health Department; public health; COVID-19 pandemic; COVID-19; contact tracing; vaccines; vaccine hesitancy
Note 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
The following material can be used for educational and other non-commercial purposes without the written permission of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. “Fair use” criteria of Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 must be followed. These materials are not to be deposited in other repositories, nor used for resale or commercial purposes without the authorization from the Audio-Visual Curator at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, 112 N. 6th Street, Springfield, Illinois 62701. Telephone (217) 785-7955.