Division of Science, Medicine and Society HIV/AIDS Reference Collection
name: label: Creator
content: Kondratas, Ramunas A.
label: Creator
content: Ott, Katherine
label: Former owner
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Science, Medicine, and Society
place: label: Place
content: Lithuania
topic: label: Topic
content: Political activists
label: Topic
content: HIV/AIDS awareness
label: Topic
content: Epidemics
label: Topic
content: Gay activists
label: Topic
content: AIDS (Disease) -- Prevention
label: Topic
content: AIDS (Disease) -- Lithuania
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Received from Ramunas Kondratas, curator, Division of Science, Medicine, and Society. 2023 Addenda received from Katherine Ott, curator, Division of Science, Medicine, and Society.
creator: label: Creator
content: Kondratas, Ramunas A.
label: Creator
content: Ott, Katherine
setName: label: See more items in
content: Division of Science, Medicine and Society HIV/AIDS Reference Collection
abstract: label: Summary
content: This collection consists of pamphlets, books, and a wide variety of printed matter and ephemera relating to HIV/AIDS.  The collection was principally assembled by National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution curators Ramunas Kondratas and Katherine Ott.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: The HIV/AIDS crisis that began in the 1980s is a defining period of the later half of the 20th century.  Once thought to be a disease affecting homosexual men only, the epidemic spread to the broader population of the United States and the world at large.  The response to the epidemic came from many public and private organizations, some internationally known like the Red Cross and some at the local level such as the Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington, D.C.  Many organizations produced a variety of pamphlets, studies, and reports dealing with all aspects of the disease.

This collection consists of material collected by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, Division of Science, Medicine, and Society. The bulk of the collection was assembled by curator Ramunas "Ray" Kondratas during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 7.5 Cubic feet (21 boxes, 3 oversized folders)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1975-2019, undated
label: Date
content: bulk 1987-1993
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Collection transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Science, Medicine, and Society (now Division of Medicine and Science), 2008 and an addendum in 2023.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1134
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pamphlets
label: Type
content: Leaflets
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Advertisements
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is organized into six series.

Series 1, Educational Material and Advertisements, 1984-2004

Subseries 1, American Red Cross, 1986-1993, undated

Subseries 2, Gay Men's Health Crisis, Incorporated, 1985-1994, undated

Subseries 3, New York State Health Department, 1984-1991, undated

Subseries 4, Government of the District of Columbia, 1990-1996, undated

Subseries 5, United States Department of Health and Human Services, 1984-1995, undated

Subseries 6, Whitman-Walker Clinic, Washington, D.C., 1988-1996, undated

Subseries 7, Various Organizations, 1984-2004, undated

Subseries 8, Posters, Newspapers, and Ephemera, 1986-1994, undated

Series 2, Reports, Commissions and Bibliographies, 1981-1999

Subseries 1, Presidential Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Epidemic, 1987-1989

Subseries 2, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 1981-1999

Subseries 3, National Library of Medicine (NLM), 1986-1993

Subseries 4, Other Organizations, 1987-1988

Series 3, Ramunas Kondratas, Correspondence and Collected Materials, 1979-1994, undated

Series 4, AIDS/HIV Related Press Clippings and Periodicals, 1982-2006

Series 5, Audiovisual Material, 1988

Series 6, 2023 Addendum, 1975-2019, undated

Subseries 6.1, Research Files, 1975-2019, undated

Subseries 6.2, Periodicals, 1983-2012, undated

Subseries 6.3, Photographs and Audio-Visual, 1985-2010, undated
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Noah Lenstra (intern) March, 2009; supervised by Franklin A. Robinson, Jr., archivist. The 2023 addendum processed by Geoff Kelly (intern) and Franklin A. Robinson, Jr., archivist, August 2023.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Pamphlets -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Leaflets
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Advertisements -- 20th century
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Division of Science, Medicine, and Society HIV/AIDS Reference Collection contains a large amount of printed material representing how HIV/AIDS was depicted in popular culture, in the medical sciences, by activist groups, and by government agencies principally during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Most of the collection consists of pamphlets, brochures, reports, and other educational material designed to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in the general public. 

This collection includes correspondence and conference proceedings related to the history of HIV/AIDS. The materials were collected by NMAH curator Ramunas "Ray" Kondratas, working together with the AIDS history group that was part of the American Association for the History of Medicine. A number of bibliographies and resource guides to literature related to HIV/AIDS are included in the collection. Geographically, the material is primarily from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, with New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, the general United States, as well as Lithuania and London, also represented in the collection.

An addendum was added to the collection in 2023. These materials were gathered during research for the National Museum of American History exhibition that opened in May 2011.

The Smithsonian Institution press release from May 2011 described the three-pronged exhibit (now closed): 'HIV and AIDS Thirty Years Ago' will look at the public health, scientific and political responses in the early phase (1981-87) of the global pandemic. This showcase will be located in the museum's "Science in American Life" exhibition, which focuses on the connections among science, culture and society in American history. The display will feature photographs, magazine covers and other graphics plus equipment that Dr. Jay Levy used to isolate the virus in his lab at the University of California, San Francisco, a copy of the Surgeon General's 1986 report presenting the government's position, samples of the drugs AZT and Retrovir and public health information pamphlets from AIDS service organizations. The website will be available at americanhistory.si.edu/hivaids.

In 'Archiving the History of an Epidemic: HIV and AIDS, 1985-2009,' the museum's Archives Center will show how individuals and society were affected by the epidemic through a selection of archival materials from its collections, including posters for the 1993 movie Philadelphia with Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington and the 1989 film Longtime Companion; brochures, photographs and other popular culture materials; and quotes from oral histories of people affected by the epidemic.

The museum will also display a panel from the AIDS Memorial Quilt of the Names Project Foundation, honoring Roger Lyon, who died of complications from AIDS in 1984 shortly after testifying before Congress to appeal for funding to combat the growing epidemic. The quilt will be on view in the first-floor Artifacts Wall." SI Press Release, May 2011.