On October 11, 1987, the new AIDS Memorial Quilt, stitched together with 1,920 panels memorializing people who had died from the disease, goes on display on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The unveiling of the quilt, which unfurls over a space larger than a football field, coincides with the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
The quilt was the brainchild of Cleve Jones, a human rights activist and author in San Francisco. In November 1985, Jones was planning the annual candlelight march in memory of political leaders Harvey Milk and George Moscone, who were both assassinated in 1978, when he learned that more than 1,000 San Francisco residents had died from AIDS. Wanting to honor their memory, he asked marchers to write onto placards the names of loved ones who had lost their lives to the disease.
After the march, participants climbed ladders and taped the placards to the outside walls of the San Francisco Federal Building. The sight resembled a patchwork quilt—inspiring an idea.
About a year later, a group of strangers met in San Francisco to start making cloth panels in memory of loved ones. Jones created the first panel in memory of Marvin Feldman, a friend. In June 1987, the quilt project formally organized into the NAMES Project Foundation. People from other cities started sending in panels, and many volunteers donated their time, equipment and sewing supplies.
After the initial unveiling in the nation’s capital in October, the quilt continued to grow exponentially, and portions of it often went on tour for display in different cities.
Today, the AIDS Memorial Quilt is called the largest community art project in the world. It includes nearly 50,000 panels dedicated to more than 110,000 people, and the tapestry weighs 54 tons. The quilt has been displayed in Washington, D.C., several times and returned to San Francisco in 2020. There, the National AIDS Memorial cares for the quilt, which can also be viewed virtually.
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