Title: Gay rights movement
Description: The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) was organized in 1987 to respond to the US government's handling of the AIDS crisis with aggressive, nonviolent direct action. Over the years, ACT UP agitated against sluggish government attention to the AIDS crisis, the high prices of AIDS medication, and the social stigma of AIDS. The materials in this collection span the period from 1980 to 2000, tracing the development of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, the formation of ACT UP in 1987, and its grassroots activities through the 1990s. ACT UP by-laws and administrative manuals showcase the group's early history and structure, and financial records track operational expenses such as bills and postage, as well as fundraising auctions. Several years' worth of meeting minutes from the founding New York chapter of ACT UP are included in the collection, as well as minutes and materials from other US and international chapters. Correspondence found here reveals the nature of the group's dialogue and relationships with governments, corporations, other organizations, and the public. Encompassed in the collection are materials surrounding ACT UP's direct action initiatives. Many of these items date from ACT UP's highly active first five years, and include both internal records and other ephemera, fliers, and handbills related to the events. ACT UP formed several special committees to guide and inform its programmatic activities; press releases, meeting minutes, reports, and correspondence relate to committee work on topics such as immigration, insurance and health care access, prison issues, and AIDS/HIV treatment. Committees performed extensive medical and pharmaceutical research; newspaper articles and journal reports document developments in AIDS/HIV medical and experimental treatments over the years, also exploring alternative and holistic approaches. There are also notes, press clippings, abstracts, and handouts from several conferences that ACT UP representatives attended. This collection provides critical documentation of the history of AIDS activism.
Subjects: Homosexuality, AIDS (Disease), Gay liberation movement, ACT UP New York (Organization)
Places: United States