GREENSBORO, N.C. – Museums are made for visitors. But for the past two months, they've sat empty.

For museums like the Reynolda House, it's had an impact.

“The museum has lost a lot in admissions. So the staff has been working really diligently on securing some grants and planning for our future," Deputy Director Phil Archer says.

Even free museums, like the Greensboro History Museum, are thinking about future losses.

“The donations for people as they themselves, personally have had financial impact or lost jobs... that’s going to impact us. So in the museum world, we know this is going to have a long-term impact for us so we’re all trying to figure out how we’re going to get through this," Director Carol Ghiorsi Hart says.

They've spent this time preparing for reopening and also continuing to gather history.

"We’re being very active in collecting and encouraging people to keep diaries and connect with us and have conversations about the times we’re living in," Hart says.

They're looking forward to when they can shift from sharing that history online to back in person.

“Museums are really good at taking care of objects, making sure the humidity is just right, the temperature. We’re really good at not touching objects and helping people learn not to touch objects, so it’s really just a hop and a skip to orienting visitors to also keep distance from one another," Archer says.