AIDS History Project collection, circa 1967-2007, bulk 1985-1997

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Summary

Creators:
Kepner, Jim (James), 1923-1997 and Southern California AIDS Social Policy Archive
Abstract:
Materials relating to the AIDS epidemic, with special emphasis on Los Angeles County. The collection includes records of the various Los Angeles City and County government departments, agencies, and task forces involved in the fight against AIDS, in particular the Los Angeles County AIDS Programs office. The majority of the records relates to HIV/AIDS counseling and testing; community education; the Long Beach Early Intervention Network (EIN) Project; funding through the Centers for Disease Control and under the Ryan White CARE Act of 1990; projects undertaken by private agencies under contract to Los Angeles County; and the work of various commissions and task forces. Additional records of the California State Office of AIDS and the Centers for Disease Control and its subsidiary institutes document the response of the state and Federal governments. The collection also contains materials created by Los Angeles County, California, and national organizations and institutions involved in AIDS research, education, awareness, and community support; a wide variety of materials created by or about persons affected by AIDS; geographic files containing information on AIDS elsewhere in the United States and the world; subject files; a substantial number of English- and Spanish-language AIDS-related newsletters; graphic materials including photographs and posters; ephemera and memorabilia; and a large number of newspaper clippings.
Extent:
164 boxes + 7 oversize boxes + 1 shoebox (210.4 linear feet).
Language:
Languages represented in the collection: English
Preferred citation:

AIDS History Project collection, Coll2007-015, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection comprises reports, correspondence, memoranda, statistics, bibliographies, conference proceedings, minutes, notes, journal articles, subject files, brochures, posters, flyers, photographs, news clippings, ephemera, memorabilia, as well as audiovisual, fundraising, publicity and other materials relating to the AIDS epidemic in Los Angeles County, the state of California, and the United States. The core of the collection consists of materials created by the various Los Angeles City and County government departments, agencies, and task forces involved in the fight against AIDS, in particular the Los Angeles County AIDS Programs office. The majority of the records relates to HIV/AIDS counseling and testing; community education; the Long Beach Early Intervention Network (EIN) Project; funding through the Centers for Disease Control and under the Ryan White CARE Act of 1990; projects undertaken by private agencies under contract to Los Angeles County; and the work of various commissions and task forces. Additional records of various California State government departments, agencies, and task forces, in particular the California State Office of AIDS, document the state's response to the AIDS epidemic. The collection includes records of Federal agencies, in particular the Centers for Disease Control and its subsidiary, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which address HIV/AIDS testing, counseling, and prevention. The collection also contains extensive materials created by Los Angeles County, California, and national organizations and institutions involved in AIDS research, education, awareness, and community support; geographic files containing information on AIDS elsewhere in the United States and the world; extensive subject files; a large number of English- and Spanish-language AIDS-related newsletters; graphic materials including photographs and posters; ephemera, including buttons and safe-sex condom packets; and a large number of newspaper clippings.

Processing note: because many of the folders were re-arranged and re-foldered before the collection was processed it has not always been possible to determine their original context. They have consequently been arranged by originating or receiving agency, date, or subject, as considered most appropriate. When the integrity of a folder appears intact and its creator can be identified, the name of the creator is noted on the folder and in this document.

Biographical / historical:

The AIDS History Project Collection was formed in the Fall of 1985 by Jim Kepner, as part of his International Gay and Lesbian Archives (IGLA), to document the history of the AIDS epidemic, in particular in Southern California. It consisted of organizational and subject files. Kepner formed and augmented the collection by removing AIDS-related materials from organizational and personal papers in the IGLA collections. The earliest project coordinator was Olaf Odegaard, succeeded in turn by David Grossman and Jack Carrel, who later worked for the Los Angeles Free Clinic and the Los Angeles County Sexually Transmitted Disease Program. The size of the collection was greatly increased in 2001/2002 by the acquisition of the Southern California AIDS Social Policy Archive, which had been formed at the University of Southern California in 1995 to preserve and make accessible pertinent private papers of David Johnson, the first Los Angeles City AIDS Coordinator, Dr. Michael Gottlieb, and Dr. Joel Weisman, materials from local AIDS activist groups, and papers of the Los Angeles City Attorney AIDS/HIV Discrimination Unit.

Acquisition information:
Created in 1985.
Processing information:

Processed by Michael Palmer and Loni Shibuyama, September-December 2007.

Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.

Terms of access:

Researchers wishing to publish materials must obtain permission in writing from ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives as the physical owner. Researchers must also obtain clearance from the holder(s) of any copyrights in the materials. Note that ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives can grant copyright clearance only for those materials for which we hold the copyright. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright clearance for all other materials directly from the copyright holder(s).

Preferred citation:

AIDS History Project collection, Coll2007-015, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

Location of this collection:
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007, US
Contact:
(213) 821-2771
askone@usc.edu
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