An ambitious project to document the lives lost to the AIDS epidemic was unfurled on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on this day in 1987. The Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was “a juxtaposition of deep sadness with joyful creation,” a volunteer told The Times. By then, not even a decade into the AIDS crisis, more than 20,000 people in the U.S. had already died of the disease or related causes. According to the World Health Organization, the toll has risen to nearly 35 million worldwide. A regimen of three antiretroviral drugs can help patients live longer and greatly decrease their chances of spreading the virus, but it continues to take a painful toll on sub-Saharan Africa. At least 23 million people there live with the virus, and the region accounts for two-thirds of new infections. The AIDS quilt, which had 1,920 panels when it was displayed in the nation’s capital, was taken to cities across the U.S. “We hope it will help people to remember,” the project’s founder, Cleve Jones, said in a speech a year after the project’s debut. “We hope it will teach our leaders to act.” The quilt has grown over the years. It now weighs more than 54 tons, with more than 49,000 panels and 96,000 names. #NewYorkTimesBackStory #AIDSQuilt #GMHC #GRID #SteveHirsch #EarlyEighties #EighthStreetPlayhouse (at National Mall)
