200 Years of LGBTQIA+ History

From Shadows to Pride — UK & Global Timeline

Source Record

The AIDS Memorial Quilt

Why this source is used

National Library of Medicine exhibit page on the AIDS Memorial Quilt, including its 1987 first display and scale.

Start with the answer

Start with the answer How did HIV/AIDS change public health and activism? HIV/AIDS changed public health by forcing faster surveillance, treatment approval, community-led prevention, visible memorialisation and international awareness. Read the topic guide HIV/AIDS Public Health and Memory The HIV/AIDS crisis reshaped public health through surveillance, treatment activism, drug approval, memorial culture and global awareness days.

Source Status

Publisher
U.S. National Library of Medicine
Type
government
Reliability
high
Cited by
3 pages

Source Links

Open original source https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/againsttheodds/exhibit/action_on_aids/AIDS_memorial_quilt.html Accessed 2 June 2026 Open archived copy https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/againsttheodds/exhibit/action_on_aids/AIDS_memorial_quilt.html

Used by Topics

HIV/AIDS Public Health and Memory

Used by Questions

How did HIV/AIDS change public health and activism?

Used by Timeline Events

11 October 1987 ActivismCulturalHealth

AIDS Memorial Quilt First Displayed on the National Mall

The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was displayed for the first time on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., during the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Comprising 1,920 panels and viewed by over 500,000 people, the quilt was conceived by activist Cleve Jones in 1985. Today it contains nearly 50,000 panels commemorating over 110,000 individuals lost to AIDS.