Gay historical
group completes San Francisco AIDS archive

The San Francisco-based GLBT Historical Society has completed a two-year effort to create a comprehensive archive of the city's response to the AIDS crisis. Called the AIDS History Research Project, the archive was created with the assistance of the University of California, San Francisco, and funded in large part by the National Historic Records Preservation Commission. The archive includes papers and organizational records from activists and community groups who responded to the epidemic. The purpose of the project is to offer a vital research resource to public policy makers, health professionals, and community activists who are still battling AIDS, as well as to journalists and scholars who are attempting to understand the broader impact of the AIDS crisis.

"The San Francisco Bay area has been at the forefront in the response to the AIDS epidemic from the very beginning and has served as a model of intervention care for the entire world," said Terence Kissak, executive director of the GLBT Historical Society, in a press statement. "The AIDS History Research Project ensures that the history of this critical period is preserved and made accessible to all who would benefit from it. Were it not for documenting the medical, social, legal, and economic ramifications of the AIDS epidemic, we could have faced the immense tragedy of failing both to learn from this history and honor those who were important actors in it."

For more information about the AIDS History Research Project, go online to www.glbthistory.org. (The Advocate)