The AIDS History Project holds the papers of some of the UCSF faculty members who were pioneers in AIDS research, patient care, and public health policy. Other major holdings include the records of Ward 84/86 at SFGH—the outpatient AIDS Clinic that formed the nucleus of what became the “San Francisco model” of AIDS care—and early records of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Other collections, such as the Bobbi Campbell Diary, are frank descriptions of the life and activities of PWAs (People with AIDS). Materials comprising the AIDS History Project are diverse, ranging from handwritten correspondence and notebooks to typed and printed correspondence and agency records to ephemera, printed magazines, and books. Also notable are AIDS epidemic related materials that were reunited through a 2017 NEH Grant.
The AIDS History Project holdings at UCSF currently include over 50 collections which are processed and accessible by the public. To see these materials, plan your research and make a request. The UCSF Archives and Special Collections is actively collecting new AIDS History Project collections, so please contact us if you have materials that you would like to donate.
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Finding Aids
ACT-UP Golden Gate
Records of AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP) Golden Gate, a group formed out of ACT-UP San Francisco, dated 1988–1993. Material relates, among other topics, to the 6th International AIDS Conference and Treatment Issues Committee.AIDS community-based organizations
Material from 26 different community-based AIDS organizations, collected by Willie Walker, including Black Coalition on AIDS, Latino Coalition on AIDS/SIDA, and the Urban Indian Health Board.AIDS History Project ephemera collection
Ephemera including flyers, posters, condoms, and other material related to the medical and/or social aspects of AIDS and HIV, with a focus on prevention and misconceptions about the disease.AIDS History Project audio/video collection
AV material related to the medical and social aspects of AIDS and HIV ranging from Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and television and radio news clips to professional and amateur documentaries and features and rough cuts.AIDS Legal Referral Panel
Records of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel, a group that offers free and low-cost legal services for people with HIV or an HIV-related legal problem. Includes annual reports for the years 1987–1991 and subject files containing correspondence, notes, and reports.AIDS Service Providers Association
Records of AIDS Service Providers Association (ASPA), a group that promoted collaboration and coordination among AIDS service and community-based organizations in the eleven-county San Francisco and Monterey Bay area, dated 1987–1993.AIDS Treatment News
Records of AIDS Treatment News (ATN), a biweekly newsletter organized by John James that reported on both orthodox and experimental treatments of AIDS-related conditions, dated 1985–1994.Andrews (Richard) papers
Dr. Richard Andrews, a psychiatrist, was an advocate for gay medical causes during the early AIDS epidemic in San Francisco. He played a significant role as a physician and member of Bay Area Physicians for Human Rights, a gay physicians organization.Bay Area HIV Support and Education Services
Records of Bay Area HIV Support and Education Services (BAHSES), an AIDS education organization that provided counseling, education, and advocacy to a multicultural and often low-income population at risk of, or having, HIV infection.Bolan (Robert K.) papers
Dr. Robert Bolan was a community doctor and served as President of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF). He was also active in Bay Area Physicians for Human Rights (BAPHR), the National Coalition of Gay Sexually Transmitted Disease Services (NCGSTD), and consulted with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).Campbell (Robert) diary
Diary of Robert (Bobbi) Campbell, nurse and self-identified “AIDS Poster Boy.” Campbell was one of the first and most public People with AIDS (PWA). The diary runs from July 1983 through February 1984 and is a frank description of his life and activities during this time. Numerous snapshots are also included.Conant (Marcus A.) papers
Marcus A. Conant, MD, professor of dermatology at UCSF, helped lead San Francisco’s first coordinated medical response to the AIDS epidemic. Material, dated 1981–1993, relates to the UCSF Kaposi’s Sarcoma (K-S) Clinic, AIDS research pursued by Conant, and the K-S (later San Francisco AIDS) Foundation.Deeks (Steven) papers
Dr. Steven G. Deeks is a Professor of Medicine in Residence at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a faculty member in the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital. The collection documents his involvement in the controversial baboon bone marrow transplant to an AIDS patient in 1995.De Martini (Father Rodney J.) papers
Audiovisual materials, pamphlets, brochures, correspondence and ephemera, dating from 1986–2007, related to AIDS education in Catholic schools and parishes collected by Father Rodney J. De Martini, a Catholic priest from San Francisco, California who was also a vocal AIDS educator and lobbyist.Dritz (Selma) papers
Selma K. Dritz, MD, MPH played a seminal role in the early AIDS epidemic in San Francisco. As assistant director of the Bureau of Disease Control of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, she tracked cases of what by mid-1982 was known as AIDS, collaborated with the Centers for Disease Control and UCSF in helping to establish the etiology and epidemiology of the disease, and educated the gay and straight communities about AIDS recognition and prevention.Francis (Don) papers
Dr. Donald Francis has over 30 years of experience in epidemic control and vaccines, and has worked on HIV/AIDS since its emergence in 1981. He initially directed the AIDS laboratory at the CDC and worked closely with the Institut Pasteur. His early efforts were chronicled by Randy Shilts in the book, And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic. In 1992, he joined Genentech to develop vaccines and later co-founded VaxGen.Frutchey (Chuck) papers
Chuck Frutchey was a long-time staff member of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and served as its education director from 1988–1994. Collection includes subject files, conference files, publicity materials, reports, publications, and ephemera.GAPA Community HIV Project
Records of GAPA Community HIV Project (GCHP), which grew out of the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance (GAPA) HIV/AIDS Committee, dated 1989–1995. GCHP was one of the first organizations in the country to provide a spectrum of culturally appropriate direct services for Asians and Pacific Islanders living with AIDS and HIV.Garrett (Laurie) papers
Laurie Garrett is a noted science journalist and public health and policy advocate who has written extensively on global health systems, chronic and infectious diseases, and bioterrorism. She has authored several books, including the best-selling The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance.Gottlieb (Michael S.) Papers
Michael Stuart Gottlieb is an American physician and immunologist known for his 1981 identification of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) as a new disease. This collection spans 1980–2019 and contains published papers by Gottlieb and many others on AIDS-related topics. It also includes information on various AIDS drug treatment studies, professional and personal correspondence, and information about various talks and events attended by Gottlieb during the 1980s.Greenspan (John) papers
John S. Greenspan is, among other titles, UCSF Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Oral Pathology, former UCSF School of Dentistry Associate Dean for Global Oral Health, Director-Emeritus of UCSF AIDS Research Institute, and founding director of the UCSF Oral AIDS Center and UCSF AIDS Specimen Bank. He discovered the lesion hairy leukoplakia, its association with EBV, and the significance of this and other oral lesions in the natural history of HIV/AIDS related diseases.Guerrilla Clinic
Records of the Guerilla Clinic, an informal, “underground” group of AIDS activists who obtained unapproved, experimental drugs, mostly from Mexico, and distributed them at cost to people with AIDS, dated 1982–1990.Haight Ashbury Free Clinic records
Haight Ashbury Free Clinic is a free health care service provider that was founded by UCSF alumni David E. Smith in 1967. With the guiding principle that “Health care is a right, not a privilege,” Smith opened up the clinic at 558 Clayton Street, near the corner of Haight Street. Collection includes subject files, reference articles, Haight Ashbury Free Clinic articles and publications, electronic records, digital images, audiovisual materials and computer media.Healing Alternatives Foundation
Records, dated 1986–1994, of the Healing Alternatives Foundation (HAF), a group originally formed as a buyers club in April 1987 in direct response to the need for access to AIDS treatment information and products.Hoffinger (Renee) papers
Collection include AIDs and HIV research files of nutritionist Renee Hoffinger, as well as related materials documenting conferences and events.Hughes (Sally) AIDS research collection
Research materials collected by Sally Hughes in preparation for AIDS oral histories carried out at the Regional Oral History Office of UC Berkeley, including newspaper clippings, conference material, research reports, correspondence, and government documents.Institute for Health Policy Studies – AIDS Resource Program
Material collected by the AIDS Resource Program of UCSF’s Institute for Health Policy Studies to use as reference materials to meet their goal of providing information and education on the San Francisco Model of HIV/AIDS services and to assist in their analysis of other HIV/AIDS health and social services policies and programs.Jacobson (Mark) papers
Dr. Jacobson is a clinician, educator, and researcher who has specialized in HIV/AIDS and its complications since joining the UCSF faculty in 1986. The collection includes calendars, index cards with patient symptoms and medication, electronic records (including his PalmPilot), photographs, Triomune 30 box, and other materials.Krebs (Katherine) papers
Katherine Krebs is a Communications Analyst in UCSF’s Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences who previously managed meetings for the SF Department of Public Health and AmFAR. Collection is comprised of collateral material from various AIDS conferences.Levy (Jay) papers
Jay Levy is an AIDS and cancer researcher at UCSF. He discovered xenotropic viruses, or retroviruses do not infect their species of origin, in the early 1970s, and also independently discovered the AIDS virus, HIV, in 1983. The collection includes Levy’s lab notebooks and grant files.Lewis (Angie) papers
Material donated by Carole Angela “Angie” Lewis after she was interviewed by Sally Smith Hughes as a part of the oral history series, The AIDS Epidemic in San Francisco. It consists primarily of conference materials, correspondence and writings by Lewis concerning her educational work on HIV and AIDS from 1982–1991.Linton (Brooks) ephemera collection
AIDS-related ephemera collected by Brooks Linton, a former San Francisco General Hospital AIDS Ward nurse, dated approximately 1983–1995.Mobilization Against AIDS
Documents the founding, administration and work of Mobilization Against AIDS also known as MOB. MOB was a California-based national advocacy and lobbying organization working against anti-AIDS initiatives and governmental policies, promoting the testing of new AIDS drugs, and generally drawing attention to the AIDS epidemic around the world.Multicultural AIDS Resource Center
The Multicultural AIDS Resource Center (MARC) was a subsidiary project of the Multicultural Training Resource Center (MTRC). MTRC was created in 1984 in the Bay Area by Sala Udin, an experienced community organizer. MARC was created to train the statewide contractors that serve people of color about multicultural approaches to AIDS education and prevention.National Lawyers Guild AIDS Network
Consists of publications, position papers, correspondence, and files on particular issues with which the National Lawyers Guild AIDS Network had been involved. The two main issues documented in this collection are HIV in prisons and immigration of persons with HIV/AIDS.National Task Force on AIDS Prevention
Documents the establishment, development, and growth of the National Task Force on AIDS Prevention (NTFP), which grew out of the National Black and White Men Together AIDS Committee, to address education and prevention issues within multi-cultural and minority communities. The collection also contains material from the Center for Positive Care and the CARE Council.Newmeyer (John) papers
John Newmeyer is an epidemiologist at the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic in San Francisco. In 1983, Newmeyer instituted a needle exchange and bleach distribution program to help fight the spread of HIV/AIDS among intravenous drug users. Collection includes Newmeyer manuscripts, publications, and reports, as well as research files, ephemera, and artifacts.Petru (Ann) Papers
Ann Petru is a prominent physician, researcher, and leader in the pediatric HIV/AIDS field, provided care for the first pediatric HIV/AIDS case in the Bay Area in 1983and later founded the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Program in 1986. This collection, dating from 1991–2015, contains newsletters, research papers, journal articles, educational and teaching material, and VHS tapes about topics in AIDS education.Rappoport (Claire) papers
Claire Rappoport serves as community liaison to the International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials (INSIGHT) Clinical Trials Network. Collection includes various AIDS-related materials collected and produced by her, including ephemera, audiovisual and computer media.San Francisco AIDS Foundation
Records from the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF), originally the Kaposi’s Sarcoma Research and Education Foundation (KSREF), from its founding in 1982 through 1995. The mission of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) is to hasten the end of the AIDS epidemic and its impact on society, through education, advocacy, and client services.San Francisco AIDS Foundation Magnet Program Records
The Magnet is a health and wellness program located in the Castro District of San Francisco, offering community events, sexual health services, substance use counseling, PrEP, HIV and STI testing, learning events and rotating art displays from queer artists. The collection includes posters, artifacts, photographs, audio/visual material, and newspaper clippings.San Francisco General Hospital Historical Documents
Contains documents created by San Francisco General Hospital, most dating from the latter half of the 20th century. Included are annual reports, various plans, documents regarding the 2008–2015 hospital rebuild, oral histories, nursing school yearbooks, CHN documents, administrative records, portraits of former chiefs of staff, and miscellaneous publications and ephemera.San Francisco General Hospital, Ward 84/86
Administrative records of the AIDS Program at San Francisco General Hospital and records of the Sixth International Conference on AIDS, held in San Francisco in 1990. Material is dated approximately 1981–1991.Shanti Project Records
The Shanti Project was founded in 1974 by Dr. Charles Garfield, to provide emotional support for people with life-threatening illnesses in the San Francisco Bay Area. The project’s focus on one-to-one peer support provided by trained volunteers became a new standard in the care of the terminally ill. This collection includes materials dating from both before and after the Shanti Project changed its focus from life-threatening illness in general to AIDS exclusively in 1984.Sixth International Conference on AIDS Research records
This collection, dated 1988–1990, contains the official materials from the Sixth International Conference on AIDS that was held June 20–24, 1990, in San Francisco California. The theme of the conference was “AIDS in the Nineties: From Science to Policy. Materials cover the conference from the first pre-announcement in 1988 to the Final Report and “Letters of Appreciation.” There is also a small amount of correspondence and ephemera in the collection.Stoller (Nancy E.) papers
Material related to the Sixth International Conference on AIDS that was held in San Francisco, California from June 20–24, 1990. The University of California, San Francisco was the primary sponsor, with the World Health Organization, the City and County of San Francisco, the American Foundation for AIDS Research, and the International AIDS Society as co-sponsors.Third World AIDS Advisory Task Force
The Third World AIDS Advisory Task Force (TWAATF) was the first organization in San Francisco to focus on the needs of people of color affected by AIDS, founded approximately 1985. Principal founders included Ernest Andrews, Calu Lester, Larry Saxon, and other early leaders like Norm Nickens and Pat Norman.UCSF AIDS Health Project records
The UCSF AIDS Health Project was founded in 1984. The AIDS Health Project was among the first manifestations of a community that had committed to respond, to treat itself, and it became among its most enduring. It was a manifestation that turned out to be a productive response, a treatment. Now known as the UCSF Alliance Heath Project, their mission is to support the mental health and wellness of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) and HIV-affected communities in constructing healthy and meaningful lives.UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) records
The Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) was established in 1986 as a program of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). CAPS mission was “to conduct rigorous theory-based research that will have maximum impact on the theory, practice, and policy of AIDS prevention.”Volberding (Paul) papers
Paul Volberding is a UCSF oncologist and AIDS researcher who helped found the first inpatient ward for persons with AIDS at San Francisco General Hospital in 1983. In addition to patient care, he has also focused on the development of antiretroviral therapy for HIV/AIDS, and serves as co-director of the UCSF-Gladstone Center for AIDS Research, and director of the UCSF AIDS Research Institute, the amfAR Institute for HIV Cure, and Director of Research for UCSF Global Health Sciences. Collection includes photographs, publications, and records regarding Volberding’s HIV/AIDS research and advocacy efforts.Wofsy (Constance) papers
Constance Wofsy, MD, (1943–1996) was a prominent UCSF and SFGH physician, researcher, and leader in the HIV/AIDS field. The collection contains correspondence, research papers, journal articles, travel arrangements, teaching material, and audio/visual material, dated 1981–1991.Women’s AIDS Network
Contains minutes, correspondence, drafts and published articles, bylaws, and other legal documents illustrating the work of the Women’s AIDS Network (WAN) from 1986–1992. WAN was the first women’s organization among the community service organizations that sprung up around the AIDS crisis.Ziegler (John L.) papers
Correspondence, grant and project proposals, notes, research papers and ephemera connected to Dr. Ziegler’s work dealing with AIDS related cancers, particularly Kaposi’s Sarcoma, and his work as co-chair of the Sixth Annual International AIDS Conference, which was held in San Francisco in 1990.Other Institutions
There are also AIDS History Project collections at the San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco History Center and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society of Northern California. Contact the repositories directly for information on holdings and availability.