Finding Aid to the Bobbi Campbell Diary, 1983-1984 MSS 96-33

Finding Aid written by Julia Bazar
Funding for processing this collection was provided by Funding for processing this collection was provided by The National Historical Publications and Records Commission
University of California, San Francisco Archives & Special Collections
© 2007
530 Parnassus Ave
Room 524
San Francisco, CA 94143-0840
libraryarchives@ucsf.edu


Language of Material: English
Contributing Institution: University of California, San Francisco Archives & Special Collections
Title: Bobbi Campbell diary
Creator: Campbell, Robert
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 96-33
Physical Description: 1 box .2 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1983-1984
Abstract: The diary of Bobbi Campbell, nurse, nurse practitioner student, and self-identified "AIDS Poster Boy." Campbell was one of the first, and most public People with AIDS (PWA's), speaking at numerous conferences and other events. The diary runs from July 1983 through February 1984 and is a very frank description of his life and activities during these seven months. Numerous snapshots are also included in the collection.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog: http://www.library.ucsf.edu/ .

General

Finding Aid Written By:
Julia Bazar
Date Completed:
March 2007

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to the UCSF Library and Center for Knowledge Management. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manager of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the UCSF Library and 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.
Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Bobbi Campbell Diary, MSS 96-33, The UCSF Library and Center for Knowledge Management, Archives and Special Collections, University of California, San Francisco.

Alternate Forms Available

There are no alternate forms of this collection.

Related Collections

MSS 96-31 Angie Lewis Papers
MSS 98-39 Marcus A. Conant Papers
MSS 2000-31 AIDS History Project Ephemera Collection
MSS 2000-32 AIDS History Project Audio/Video Collection

Acquisition Information

Bobbi Campbell's diary was given to Sally Smith Hughes by Angie Lewis, in connection with interviews for The AIDS Epidemic in San Francisco: The Response of the Nursing Profession, 1981-1984, Volume II, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1999. Sally Smith Hughes then donated the diary to the UCSF Library in 1996.

System of Arrangement

Arranged to the folder level.

Processing Information

Processed by Julia Bazar in 2006.

Biographical Information

Bobbi Campbell was born January 29, 1951. He was "thirty-one and a half" when he started this journal on July 28, 1983. He was one of the early men diagnosed with AIDS. Bobbi Campbell worked as a nurse and then sought further training as a nurse practitioner. Campbell also lectured and appeared at conferences and symposia as the "AIDS Poster Boy," and was active with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

Scope and Content of Collection

This collection consists of a handwritten diary kept by Bobbi Campbell, nurse, nurse practitioner student, and self-identified "AIDS Poster Boy." Campbell was one of the first, and most public People with AIDS (PWA's), speaking at numerous conferences and other events. The diary runs from July 1983 through February 1984 and is a very frank description of his life and activities during these seven months. Numerous snapshots are also included in the collection.
The diary chronicles his life during this period, including speeches to various groups about living with AIDS and the concerns of People with AIDS (PWA's), his other travels and recreational activities, and his relationship with his partner, Bobby Hilliard. Besides date, Campbell also noted the time of his entries using a 24 hour clock, for example, the first entry starts 17:20 July 28, 1983, corresponding to 5:20 p.m. of that day, sometimes several different times are recorded under one date, meaning that he made multiple entries at various times during that day. The diary includes many frank references to drug and alcohol use and sex.
In addition to the diary itself, the collection contains two folders of loose material removed from the diary. First are 5 pieces of paper including menus from two dinner parties, an announcement of a Radical Fairies gathering, and a spoof of the announcement. The other folder contains the snapshots that were stashed between many of the journal's pages. Only a few are identified and they appear to have been randomly placed or to have been moved, since the photos of identifiable events are often nowhere near the corresponding written description. Photographs removed from between the same pages have been kept together in photo envelopes within the folder. Where identification is obvious it is noted on the envelope.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Kaposi's sarcoma
AIDS (Disease)--Nursing--United States
AIDS (Disease)--Patients
AIDS (Disease)--Political aspects
AIDS (Disease)--Social Aspects--United States
Social Action--United States
Gay culture
Campbell, Bobbi
University of California San Francisco

 

Diary Series 1 1983-1984

box 1, folder 1

Diary July 1983-February 1984

box 1, folder 2

Loose Materials from back of diary September - December 1983

box 1, folder 3

Photographs 1983-1984