UCSF Archives and Special Collections has received a generous anonymous contribution in honor of past and present advocates for the hemophilia community. This contribution launches a major project to preserve and expand access to the historical records of the Committee of Ten Thousand (COTT), a pioneering community advocacy organization founded to represent people with blood disorders who contracted HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C from contaminated blood products. The COTT Collection includes records of one of its former presidents, Corey Dubin, as well as those of other members.
This anonymous contribution provides foundational funding to begin archiving the collection. The first phase includes cataloging materials and creating a comprehensive finding aid for 100 cartons (roughly 100 linear feet) of materials donated by COTT and the organization’s collaborators to the University of California, San Francisco in 2023. Materials in the collection include newspaper scans, official records, and personal health records that highlight the impact that contamination and resulting illness had on individual lives.
The COTT Collection captures the extraordinary efforts of the hemophilia community, who mobilized in response to one of the most devastating public health failures of the late 20th century. Formed in 1989, COTT became a powerful grassroots force for accountability and advocacy. COTT and many advocates affected by tainted blood products pushed relentlessly for transparency, legal action, and policy reform. Their efforts contributed to congressional investigations and landmark outcomes, including compensation programs and strengthened blood safety regulations.
Powerful community legacy
The COTT Collection offers a powerful, often underrepresented perspective on HIV/AIDS history and public health in the United States. By centering the voices of patients and community advocates, the collection highlights how ordinary citizens, many of whom are facing serious illness, have driven systemic change. As longtime COTT advocate and photojournalist Kathy MacKay noted, the collection honors those who “crisscrossed legislative office buildings for a decade…with the future of product safety in mind.”
Once cataloged and digitized, the collection will serve as a vital resource for scholars, students, public health professionals, and affected communities. The materials in these collections have the potential to support research, inform policies, enrich education, and preserve the lived experience of COTT members. One such example is The Trail of AIDS in the Hemophilia Community, a 300-page spiral-bound book self-compiled by Dana Kuhn, PhD. This work was the catalyst for an Institute of Medicine study, which led to a report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services that cited government indecision, 14 blood safety recommendations, and the introduction of the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1998.
Support the project
Additional resources will be essential to complete cataloging and future digitization.
If you are interested in supporting the preservation and digitization of the Committee of Ten Thousand Collection, please contact Polina Ilieva, associate university librarian for archives and special collections and library development and university archivist at LibraryGiving@ucsf.edu.