Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Jerry (Jerome Joel) Davis papers,
- Dates:
- 1983-1992
- Creators:
- Davis, Jerry (Jerome Joel)
- Abstract:
- Contains Davis' files, mainly as staff attorney for the San Francisco Human Rights Commission (HRC), on the Family Policy Task Force and AIDS.
- Extent:
- 3 cartons (3 cubic feet)
- Language:
- Collection materials are in English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Jerrry (Jerome Joel) Papers, (SFH 52), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Contains Davis' files, mainly as staff attorney for the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, on his Family Policy Task Force work and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Includes notes, reports, memoranda, data, and magazine, newspaper and journal articles.
- Biographical / historical:
-
As staff attorney of the Human Rights Commission under Mayor Art Agnos, Jerry Davis authored the Family Policy Task Force final report which led to successful domestic partners health benefits legislation.
A graduate of Temple University and Villanova University Law School, Davis became an attorney with the United States Department of Labor in 1973, where he worked on contract compliance cases. He helped organize the first National AIDS Vigil in October 1983. From 1988 to 1990 he was a board member of the AIDS Foundation of the Whitman-Walker Health Center in Washington DC.
Davis moved to San Francisco in 1990 to work at the Human Rights Commission until his retirement in 1992. Besides being a member of the Family Policy Task Force, he worked on the election campaigns of Roberta Achtenberg (for supervisor) and Art Agnos (for reelection as mayor), and was assistant to the political communications director of Northern California for the Clinton-Gore Presidential campaign. In 1991 he was appointed to the board of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel and was co-chair of the ALRP board from 1992 until his death. Davis died Jan. 9, 1994, of AIDS. Preceded in death by his spouse, Jeffrey Clopper, in 1987, Davis was survived by his sister, Michele.
Agnos signed domestic partner legislation in June, 1989, which was narrowly repealed by voters that fall. The same year, the mayor established the Family Policy Task Force to study the inclusion of extended family members and partners of gays and lesbians as dependents on the city health plan. As a result, the city adopted domestic partner benefits in 1991. (The city of Berkeley, CA was the first in the country to offer these benefits to its employees, in 1984.)
- Acquisition information:
- Donated by Larry Bush on May 11, 2006.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Tami J. Suzuki in 2019.
- Arrangement:
-
Organized alphabetically by subject.
- Physical location:
- Open for research. The collection is offsite and advance notice is required for retrieval. Material must be requested at least 4 business days in advance of visit.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2019-10-23 16:42:42 +0000 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
The collection is open for research and available for use during San Francisco History Center hours. Photographs are available during Photo Desk hours. This collection must be requested at least 4 business days in advance of visit.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Jerrry (Jerome Joel) Papers, (SFH 52), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.
- Location of this collection:
-
San Francisco Public Library100 Larkin StreetSan Francisco, CA 94102, US
- Contact:
- (415) 557-4567