Images(4)

Mask, Face

Object number2021.66.6

Date2019-2021

MediumFabric; Elastic

Credit LineGIft of Christi Bolanos

DescriptionHandmade face mask. Rectangular double-sided face mask with horizontal pleats. Fabric is black and white printed imagery of a protest march with people and protest signs. Black elastic cord ear loops; each loop has one knot tied near ends of cord.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 4.25 × 11.125 × 0.75 in. (10.8 × 28.3 × 1.9 cm)
InscriptionsFabric has printed black text on protest signs including "WE / DEMAND / EQUAL / RIGHTS / NOW!", "I AM / A MAN", "WE / DEMAND / DECENT / HOUSING / NOW!", "BLACK / LIVES / MATTER", and "... / TO BIAS / NOW!"
Historical NotesCloth facemask worn by Christi Bolanos. The hospital provided N100s pretty quickly after the start of the pandemic, but before that they all used N95s and donated cloth masks. They used these until the hospital was able to provide better PPE. She felt that the community really rallied around them with food, drink, and mask donations. A 2008 graduate of Duquesne’s nursing school, Christi started at Allegheny General Hospital in September of that same year as a trauma nurse on the surgical floor. She moved to the Emergency room in the fall of 2010, a position she still holds in 2021. A California native, Christi and her former husband moved to Pittsburgh in 2006 to start a family through adoption. They adopted 6 children through the foster system and informal connections. Christi wanted to be a nurse in order to be connected to the community as a competent and compassionate nurse. Because she believed it was everyone’s worst day when they came to the ER she had a desire to work in that department and to show love to people in their most vulnerable moments. She also is deeply committed to social justice and equity and wanted to be involved in healthcare because of the huge disparities that exist for racial minorities in healthcare treatment, especially black women in the city of Pittsburgh. In the early days of COVID there were so many unknowns and because no one was sure how the virus was transmitted she had to be separated from her children for six weeks especially because one of her children is immunocompromised. They stayed with their father for four weeks and then with her parents for two more. She then took a leave of absence from the hospital to be with her family. She was going through a divorce and her nursing community donated time to let her take leave and be with her family. She took six weeks and then came back to a position in triage in order to lessen her exposer to the virus so she could still see her family. By August of 2020, she was able to go back to her position in the ER after her son’s situation was stabilized.

Previous owner Christi Bolanos

Related institution Allegheny General Hospital

Related institution Allegheny Health Network

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