Guide to the Robert K. Bolan Papers MSS.97.03
Julia Bazar
University of California, San Francisco Archives & Special Collections
© 2006
530 Parnassus Ave
Room 524
San Francisco, CA 94143-0840
libraryarchives@ucsf.edu
Contributing Institution:
University of California, San Francisco Archives & Special Collections
Title: Robert K. Bolan papers
Creator:
Bolan, Robert K.
Identifier/Call Number: MSS.97.03
Physical Description:
2 cartons, 4 boxes
3.7
Date (inclusive): 1967-1989
Date (bulk): (Bulk 1982-1985)
Abstract: This collection documents Dr. Robert Bolan's participation, as a community doctor and as President of the Board of Directors
of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF), in the identification and prevention of AIDS and HIV. Bolan was also active in
the Bay Area Physicians for Human Rights (BAPHR), and the National Coalition of Gay Sexually Transmitted Disease Services
(NCGSTD), and consulted with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Risk reduction and safe(r) sex guidelines were two areas
of special focus for Bolan. Included in this collection are minutes, correspondence, newsletters and various other items connected
to these organizations, as well as drafts of articles written/talks given by Dr. Bolan and materials on AIDS and Educational
methods collected by Dr. Bolan.
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Language of Material: Languages represented in the collection: English
General
- Processed by:
- Julia Bazar
- Date Completed:
- May 2005
- Encoded by:
- UCSC OAC Unit
Access
Collection open for research.
Restricted material
Box 5:1,2 are RESTRICTED.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the Library & Center for Knowledge Management. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Archives & Special Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Library & Center for Knowledge Management as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Preferred Citation
Robert K. Bolan papers. MSS 97-03, Archives & Special Collections, UCSF Library & CKM.
Acquisition Information
The Robert K. Bolan Papers were donated to UCSF by Dr. Bolan via Sally Smith Hughes after she completed her oral history interviews
with him in 1996.
Biography
Robert K. Bolan was born in Detroit, Michigan and grew up in the greater Detroit area. He graduated from the University of
Detroit in 1964 and then went on to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, for medical school. He received his M.D. in 1968.
He was briefly married during medical school (2.5 years) and has a son. He started his residency in Madison, Wisconsin (1972/1973)
[where he met his first lover and came out to himself]. There was an active gay network in Madison. After a short break from
medicine he completed his residency (1975/1976) in Milwaukee. While in Milwaukee he became aware of the "STD problem with
gay men" and began volunteering at a gay VD clinic. This was the beginning of the gay medical movement and he enjoyed working
with and serving his peers. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) had become concerned about the high and growing rates of
Syphilis and Hepatitis B within the gay male community and, in a rare move, partnered with these community clinics. This started
Bolan's association with the CDC. Bolan joined the National Coalition of Gay Sexually Transmitted Disease Services (NCGSTD)
after being introduced to the group by its chairperson Mark Behar. The NCGSTD issued the first "safe sex" pamphlet,
Guidelines and Recommendations for Healthy Gay Sexual Activity. Started in 1979, it was published in 1981, just as physicians were becoming aware of the illnesses that would later be called
AIDS.
In 1979 Bolan left his practice in Hartland, Wisconsin and moved to San Francisco to fulfill his dream of being able to combine
his interest in family practice medicine and gay VD into a single practice. One of his first moves on arrival in San Francisco
was to contact the two year old organization, Bay Area Physicians for Human Rights (BAPHR), a landmark gay physicians group.
In 1980, at the 3rd Annual National Gay and Lesbian Health Organization Conference, Bolan organized a related sub-conference,
the 2nd meeting of the NCGSTD, "Current Aspects of STDS II". The following year at the June 1981 BAPHR Conference, Alvin Friedman-Kien,
who was added to the schedule at the last moment, reported on the strange outbreak of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) in young gay men
in New York. Thirteen days previously the
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) first reported on incidence of pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) among gay men. The
MMWR did not report on KS until July 3, 1981. Bolan had already heard of the PCP cases at the CDC STD meeting held in San Diego
in May. Soon the incidences of KS and PCP became linked under the short-lived acronym GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency)
before being classified as AIDS.
BAPHR served a dual purpose; it was both a support group "safe haven" for gay physicians and a gay medical organization.
Bolan was outspoken about medical issues, especially STDs and the growing concern, speculation, and research on AIDS. He became
BAPHR's spokesman on the subject and a self-described "Media Queen" before burning out on publicity. He became known to Marcus
Conant through Conant's KP Discussion Group, which Bolan attended when he could. Conant saw Bolan as a link between the academics
and the private practice physicians, though Bolan never thought of himself that way. He served on BAPHR's KS Task Force from
1981-1983 and became the president-elect of BAPHR in 1983. The same year Conant asked him to become the Chair of the KS Foundation
(formed in April 1982). Bolan took over the KS Foundation (shortly to be renamed the AIDS Foundation) in June 1983. He was
also running a private practice, keeping up on research, being a media spokesman and maintaining a relationship. Something
had to go. He resigned as President-elect of BAPHR and cut back on his media role. Bolan served as chair of the AIDS Foundation
until January 1986. After a long practice in the Bay Area, Bolan moved to the Los Angeles area to serve as Associate Professor
of Clinical Family Medicine and Director of HIV Services at the University of Southern California. However, shortly after
moving south Bolan was also asked to serve as Medical Director at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Services Center, which has
one of the largest HIV Clinics in Southern California.
Bolan was actively involved with the discussions about and research on this new disease and its possible causes. Before the
discovery of HIV virus one of the main theories was immune overload caused by repeated STD infections and perhaps enhanced
by the use of inhaled amyl nitrates or "poppers". After the first blood transfusion cases had been identified it became clear
to Bolan and others that AIDS was caused by a new type of virus. Most AIDS/HIV research, especially in the early years, was
done in the "laboratory in the field", by physicians referring patients to drug trials, and their own attention to the things
that didn't fit. Bolan found the uncertain and constantly evolving aspect of HIV disease as intellectually stimulating, which
is why he didn't burn out like many others did. The final question, in Sally Smith Hughes' oral history interview with Bolan,
concerned what Bolan saw as his greatest contribution to HIV. His answer was:
Persistence. Showing up. And an attempt to approach this disease from a multifaceted approach: from an educational approach,
from a social activism approach, and community organizational approach, and finally from a medical approach.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection documents Dr. Robert Bolan's participation, as a community doctor and as President of the Board of Directors
of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) formerly the Kaposi's Sarcoma Foundation, in the identification and prevention
of AIDS and HIV. Bolan was also active in the Bay Area Physicians for Human Rights (BAPHR), and the National Coalition of
Gay Sexually Transmitted Disease Services (NCGSTD), and consulted with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Risk reduction
and safe(r) sex guidelines were two areas of special focus for Bolan. Included in this collection are documents connected
to these and other organizations, as well as manuscript drafts and a few more personal items. There are also articles and
other research materials on AIDS and on educational methods collected by Dr. Bolan.
This collection consists of the documents brought by Robert Bolan, M.D. to the first of three oral history interviews with
Sally Smith Hughes in 1996. Several of the documents are mentioned and/or discussed during the ensuing interviews. The collection
includes: correspondence, published and unpublished papers by Bolan and others, magazines and clippings, pamphlets and flyers,
agendas, financial documents, and newsletters. Scattered throughout the collection are folders containing handwritten drafts
and notes from a variety of events or projects.
Most of the documents in the collection are connected with Bolan's roles in the Bay Area Physicians for Responsibility (BAPHR)
and the San Francisco Kaposi's Sarcoma Foundation, later the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF). There are also significant
runs of two newsletters: The BAPHRON (BAPHR) and the NGSTDS Newsletter. A smaller amount of documents illustrate other aspects
of Dr. Bolan's career, including drafts of articles he wrote, personal and business correspondence received, and a research
study into the efficacy of non-oxynal nine that he was involved with. [Two folders in the collection are housed separately
and restricted due to HIPAA regulations and/or personnel related issues.]
The Collection is divided into 5 Series:
I. Personal and Professional Papers
II. Bay Area Physicians for Responsibility (BAPHR)
III. SFAF (San Francisco AIDS Foundation)
IV. Other Organizations and Projects
V. Periodicals
Related Collections
- MSS 98-39 Marcus A. Conant Papers
- MSS 94-60 San Francisco AIDS Foundation Records
- AR 91-19 Sixth International Conference on AIDS Records
Subjects and Indexing Terms
AIDS (Disease)--Social Aspects--United States
AIDS (Disease)--Prevention
Minorities--Health and hygiene--United States
Social Action--United States
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
Bay Area Physicians for Human Rights
Bolan, Robert--Archives
box-folder 1:1-6, 5:1
Personal and Professional Papers Series 1
1978-1983
Physical Description: 7 folders
Series Scope and Content Summary
This series contains correspondence, handwritten notes and drafts of articles by Robert Bolan. It includes information on
his coming to San Francisco, including the invitation from Pacific Family Practice (a part of the Pacific Medical Center)
to join them. Also included are a few "collage" letters from Janis Janice Aurah Karmah Kramer Kozmick Ladye; Bolan titled
this folder "Peace on Mama Earth." The one folder of handwritten notes includes a narrative on the history of AIDS and instructions.
The final two folders contain drafts of articles by Dr. Bolan. The second folder of material on the study of Trimensa (a form
of non-oyxnal nine) is restricted to prevent the identification of patient information.
Box 5:1 is RESTRICTED.
box-folder 1:1
Pacific Medical Center - Correspondence and Presbyterian Hospital Bylaws
1978-1979
box-folder 1:2
"Peace on Mama Earth"
1981
box-folder 1:3
Handwritten Notes on History of AIDS & Computer Tech
ca. 1980s
box-folder 1:4-5
Articles by Dr Bolan
1978-1981
1981-1983
box-folder 1:6
Trimensa Gcl Protocol Drafts and Correspondence
1983
box-folder 5:1
RESTRICTED - Trimensa Research Chronology
1983
Scope and Contents
Includes Patient information
box-folder 1:7-26
Bay Area Physicians for Human Rights (BAPHR) Series 2
1980-1984
Physical Description: 20 folders
Series Scope and Content Summary
The majority of this series consists of materials related the BAPHR Scientific Affairs Committee or Research Committee, including
information on their AIDS Survey and various risk reduction projects. This series also contains a few Administrative documents
(bylaws, membership lists, executive council minutes, and Budget & Finance Reports), and an undated reminiscence by Bolan
on the first BAPHR New Years Party he attended. The Administrative section includes correspondence explaining and accepting
his resignation as President-elect of the organization in June of 1984, approximately a month before he was to take office
as President. The Research subseries includes information on the 1982 symposium on the Medical Aspects of Sexual Orientation,
drafts of educational pamphlets, and information on risk reduction including guidelines for blood and sperm donation. One
folder contains information on BAPHR and the national organization, American Association of Physicians for Human Rights (AAPHR).
More information on the AAPHR can be found in Series 4: Other Organizations and Projects.
box-folder 1:10
Budget and Finance Reports
1983-1984
box-folder 1:11
Correspondence - including resignation as President-Elect
1983-1984
box-folder 1:12
Room requests and 1981 CME Symposium
1981-1984
box-folder 1:13
Pamphlets and Letterhead
1981
box-folder 1:14
Research [Scientific Affairs] Committee
1982-1983
box-folder 1:15
Scientific Affairs Committee
1982-1984
box-folder 1:16
AIDS Task Force
1983-1984
box-folder 1:17
Press Release re: Poppers
1982
box-folder 1:18
Symposium: Medical Aspects of Sexual Orientation
1982
box-folder 1:19
Preliminary Material
1982
box-folder 1:20
Sample Questionnaires and Correspondence
1982-1983
box-folder 1:21
AIDS Education Pamphlets - Drafts, Correspondence, and Copies
1982-1984
box-folder 1:22
Blood Donation/ Risk Reduction Guidelines
1983
box-folder 1:23
The Sperm Bank of Northern California
1983
box-folder 1:26
"My First BAPHR New Year's Eve Party"
n.d.
box:folder 1:26-2:24, 5:2
San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) Series 3
1980-1985
Physical Description: 58 folders
Series Scope and Content Summary
This series consists of documents collected or created by Bolan during his time as Chairman of the Board of the San Francisco
AIDS Foundation (SFAF), June 1983-January 1986, including background information on the Foundation. During this time the former
Kaposi's Sarcoma Research and Educational Foundation (KSRE) transmuted into the SFAF and various versions of the name appear
in the records. This series includes Administrative, Financial, Research and Programmatic materials.
Administrative materials include office management and policy information, executive director's reports and board of directors
files. These include an undated, draft
Official Office Manual and personnel policy drafts from 1984, as well as articles on non-profit management and the reorganization of the organization
in 1982-1983. A Personnel file containing information on the dismissal of an Executive Director and subsequent legal challenge
is restricted due to the sensitive nature of the materials.
Financial documents include budgets, financial reports, fundraising and grant related materials. These include request for
proposal (RFP) documents connected to the Roberti bill's funding of California AIDS services, National Institute of Health
(NIH) grants, and the San Francisco Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The unexpected in this series includes a formal head shot of drag entertainer "Ambi Sextros" which can be found in the "Fundraisers
and Funding Proposals" folder, and a letter quoting from an "Uncle Wiggly" story in the High Risk Education - Project Organization
file.
Box 5:2 is RESTRICTED.
box-folder 1:27-32
Administrative/Operational Files
box-folder 1:27
KSRE Foundation
Official Office Manual - draft
n.d.
box-folder 1:28
Personnel Policy - drafts
1984
box-folder 1:29
Article on non-profit management
1980
box-folder 5:2
RESTRICTED - Personnel Files/Lawsuit
1983-1985
box-folder 1:30
Schmidt Report & Response (Reorganization)
1982-1983
box-folder 1:31
AIDS National Research Foundation Minutes - re: establishment of SFAF
1983-1984
box-folder 1:32
Executive Director's Monthly Reports - scattered
1983-1984
box-folder 1:33
Board of Directors - recruitment
1984
box-folder 1:34
SFA/KS Foundation - Financial Documents & Correspondence
1983
box-folder 1:35
Budget and Monthly Financial Report
1983
box-folder 1:36
Matthew S. Reed, CPA - Financial Statements
1984
box-folder 1:37
Reports to Board of Directors - Financial Statements
1985
box-folder 1:38
Fundraisers and Funding Proposals - photo
1983-1985
box-folder 1:39
California AIDS Council, Roberti Bill (SB910) & RFP
1983
box-folder 1:40
Grants: City & Vanguard Foundation
1983
box-folder 1:41
RFP & Contract with California State Department of Health
1984
box-folder 1:42
NIH Grant Proposal - Final and Drafts
1984-1985
box-folder 1:43
AAO Project Reports
1984-1985
box-folder 1:44
San Francisco Department of Public Health / CDC Grant - correspondence
1985
box-folder 1:45
Corrections to Comprehensive AIDS Education/Prevention Plan - Correspondence - Drafts
1984
box-folder 1:46
Newsletter - Memos and Article draft
1983-1984
box-folder 1:47
Memos to and From Staff
1983-1985
box-folder 1:49
"Bitches & Gripes" - re: Multilingual Pamphlets delays
1985
box-folder 1:50
Handwritten Notes and Draft Letter to James Mason
ca. 1980-1989
box-folder 1:51-56; 2:1-21
box-folder 1:51
Proposals from Allied Organizations
1983-1984
box-folder 1:52
AIDS/Kaposi's Sarcoma Background Material - Nursing and Research Seminar
1983
box-folder 1:53
Education Department Planning Timeline
ca. 1980-1989
box-folder 1:54
San Francisco Department of Health - AIDS Coordinating Committee
1983-1984
box-folder 1:55
Stephen Marcus, M.D. - Research Proposals
1983
box-folder 1:56
Research on Kaposi's Sarcoma / Photoradiation
1983
box-folder 2:1
Bathhouse Controversy
1983-1985
box-folder 2:2
Scientific Advisory Committee - Bathhouse Injunction & HTLV III
1984
box-folder 2:3
1984-1985 Comprehensive AIDS Education/Prevention Plan
1984
box-folder 2:4
Project Group Presentations - UCSF Symposium
1984
box-folder 2:5
Project Organization
1984
box-folder 2:6
Substance Abuse Material
1983-1984
box-folder 2:7
Consulting Group Minutes & Working Papers
1984
box-folder 2:8
Planning, Statistics and Paper
1984
box-folder 2:9
Working Papers and Correspondence
1984
box-folder 2:11
Correspondence - Grant Request
1984
box-folder 2:12
Heterosexual Risk Reduction
1984-1985
box-folder 2:14
Non-SFAF Program Proposals
1984
box-folder 2:15
Education Program Resource Guide
1985
n.d.
box-folder 2:17
Study with AIDS Health Project
1984
box-folder 2:18
UCSF Behavioral Study
1984
box-folder 2:19
Programs and Services Committee
1983-1984
box-folder 2:20
Housing and Social Services (Examiner Article & Evictions)
1983-1984
box-folder 2:24
Handwritten Notes - misc.
August-September 1984
box-folder 2:25-52
Other Organizations and Projects Series 4
1967-1986
(Bulk 1983-1985)
Physical Description: 29 folders
Series Scope and Content Summary
This series contains materials that did not fit neatly into the other series. It includes materials from other organizations
that Dr. Bolan was associated with, as well as materials on various meetings he attended and general AIDS information that
he collected
Organizations represented include the national American Association of Physicians for Human Rights (AAPHR), of which BAPHR
was a part, and material from the SCPHR, which covers Southern California, where Dr. Bolan moved in 1996. Other folders represent
Bolan's connections with national mainstream organizations including serving as a consultant for the Centers for Disease Control
(CDC) and his association with the International AIDS Prospective Epidemiology Network (I-NAPEN).
Bolan attended AIDS related meetings in Denver, New York, Seattle, Dallas, and elsewhere, sometimes as a speaker and sometimes
as an attendee. The AIDS background materials include a variety of articles by others and three folders of bibliographies
on AIDS dating from 1983-1985. Also included is a folder of articles on educational methods and a folder of unidentified cartoons.
Of special interest are The National Gay Health Coalition folder, which contains information on Hepatitis B, and the California
AIDS Bills folder, which contains a summary of AIDS related legislation in California, provided by State Senator Robert Roberti's
office.
box-folder 2:25
AAPHR and SCPHR
1983-1986
box-folder 2:26
AAPHR - NCGSTD - Scientific Meeting Notes
1984
n.d.
box-folder 2:27
NCGSTDS Mailing Roster
1980
box-folder 2:28
CDC AIDS Health Education Consultants - Correspondence and Reports
?
box-folder 2:29
NGHEF - National AIDS Federation Steering Committee
1983
box-folder 2:30
GCSC (Los Angeles) - Men's Clinic Registration Packet
n.d.
box-folder 2:31
I-NAPEN (International AIDS Prospective Epidemiology Network)
1984
box-folder 2:32
UCSF Course - Organizational Notes, Check Lists
1982
box-folder 2:33
National Gay Health Coalition & Homosexual Health Report
1979-1982
n.d.
box-folder 2:34
UCSF "AIDS and Kaposi's Sarcoma" - Medical Education Program
October 29, 1982
box-folder 2:35
Denver Workshop - Outline & Risk Reduction - Various Groups
1983
n.d.
box-folder 2:36
Assorted Meetings
1983-1984
box-folder 2:37
Conference on AIDS - New York Academy of Sciences - Handwritten Notes
November 14-17, 1983
box-folder 2:38
Public Health Service Reporting - Sample Patient Questionnaire
[1981]
box-folder 2:39
Seattle and Dallas - AIDS Meetings Proceedings
1982-1983
box-folder 2:40
California AIDS Bills - Summary and Texts from Senator Roberti's Office
1986
box-folder 2:41
AIDS Facts Folder - Flyers, Handouts, Advertisements
1986
n.d.
box-folder 2:42-43
Miscellaneous AIDS Papers
box-folder 2:47
Catalog of Educational Materials (inc. flyers and booklets)
1984-1985
box-folder 2:48
Institute For Advance Study of Human Sexuality (Idalyn S. Brown reprint)
1984
box-folder 2:49
Research Articles - Disease Transmission
1984
box-folder 2:50
AIDS Bibliographies
1983-1984
box-folder 2:51-52
AIDS Bibliography/Resources
box-folder 3:1-4:7
Periodicals Series 5
1979-1989
Physical Description: 15 folders
Series Scope and Content Summary
This series contains fairly extensive, but incomplete, runs of two Gay AIDS related publications: The Bay Area Physicians
for Human Rights (BAPHR)'s "official" newsletter
The BAPHRON and the Newsletter of the National Coalition of Gay STD Services (NCGSTDS) and its successor publication
Sexual Health Reports. Also included in this section are copies of the Newsletter of the Gay Men's Health Crisis from 1983. The first two folders
in the series contain mainstream publications' early articles on the AIDS epidemic and two of the early medical journal reports
on the disease.
The BAPHRON covers 1979-1989, however, Volume 5 is missing. Of special note is the 1985 BAPHR membership questionnaire results which
are filed between Volumes 6 and 7. The folders containing Volume 9, #1 to Volume 11, #2 of
The BAPHRON also includes copies of some meeting minutes and other materials. The NCGSTDS newsletter covers 1980-1987 with scattered
missing copies throughout. The final NCGSTDS newsletter folder also contains a copy of the 1986 pamphlet/publication
Guidelines & Recommendations for Healthful Gay/Lesbian/Bi Sexual Activity. Sexual Health Reports replaced the newsletter and the collection includes two copies from 1988.
box-folder 3:1
Mainstream Periodicals Report on AIDS
1981-1983
box-folder 3:2
New England Journal of Medicine and European Journal of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
1980
1982
box-folder 3:3
Gay Men's Health Crisis Newsletter
January 1983
box-folder 3:4-8
National Coalition of Gay STD Services
box-folder 3:4
Volume 2, #1 to Volume 4, #5 (incomplete run)
1980-1983
box-folder 3:5
Volume 5, #1 to Volume 6, #5 (incomplete run)
1983-1985
box-folder 3:6
Volume 7, #1 to Volume 7, #5
1985-1986
box-folder 3:7
Volume 8, #1 to Volume 8, #4 and
Guidelines & Recommendations for Healthful Gay/Lesbian/Bi Sexual Activity
1986-1987
box-folder 3:8
Sexual Health Reports
1988
box-folder 4:1-7
The BAPHRON (Bay Area Physicians for Human Rights Official Newsletter)
box-folder 4:1
Volume 1, #1 to Volume 1, [#12]
1979
box-folder 4:2
Volume 2, #1 to Volume 2, #12 (Volume 2, #6 is missing)
1980
box-folder 4:3
Volume 3, #1 to Volume 3, #12
1981
box-folder 4:4
Volume 4, #1 to Volume 4, #12 (Volume 4, #4 is missing)
1982
box-folder 4:5
Volume 6, #1 to Volume 6 #12 (Volume 6, #5 is missing)
1984
box-folder 4:6
Volume 7, #1 to Volume 8, #6 (incomplete run)
1985-1986
box-folder 4:7
Volume 9, #1 to Volume 11, #2 (incomplete run)
1987-1989
box-folder 5:1-2
RESTRICTED Material Series 6
1983-1985
Physical Description: 2 folders
Series Scope and Content Summary
This series includes the Restricted material in the collection. Material on the study of Trimensa (a form of non-oyxnal nine),
Folder 5:1, is restricted to prevent the identification of patient information. Personnel file, Folder 5:2, containing information
on the dismissal of an Executive Director and subsequent legal challenge is also restricted due to the sensitive nature of
the materials.
box-folder 5:1
RESTRICTED - Trimensa Research Chronology - inc. Patient info
1983
box-folder 5:2
RESTRICTED - Personnel Files/Lawsuit
1983-1985