In celebration of Public Health Week, the SJSU King Library’s Africana, Asian American, Chicano, Native American (AAACNA) Studies Center and Special Collections & Archives in partnership with SJSU’s Pride Center invite you to explore this exhibition on public health, community activism, and lived experiences from the ongoing AIDS Pandemic. 

We invite you to explore the National Library of Medicine's travelling exhibition, AIDS, Posters, & Stories of Public Health, and its accompanying website. Learn about how in 1981, physicians in the United States took note of an illness ravaging people’s immune systems and causing premature death. By 1985, scientists had identified HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) as the virus that, if left untreated, ultimately led to AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). Since then, AIDS has become one of the deadliest pandemics in history according to the National Institutes of Health. Alongside the travelling exhibition, explore reproductions of public health posters from the NLM Digital Collections. Created by artists, activists, and community workers, these posters use personal narratives, visual art, and collective storytelling to convey urgent messages of care, visibility, and survival. 

Continue into the Special Collections & Archives’ Reading Room to view selected materials from the Ted Sahl Archives: A Collection of San Jose Gay and Lesbian History, the Ted Sahl Social Justice Collection, the AIDS Resources, Information & Services (ARIS) Records, the Silicon Valley AIDS Leadership Center Records, and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Periodicals Collection. Hours of operation: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday 12-5, Thursday and Friday by appointment. 

We invite you to place or share with us an image of a loved one or person you admire to add to memorial of people impacted by AIDS. Share the image of the quilt if one was made, AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT. We will print shared images and add them to the memorial table. Any picture or image that reflects your person can be part of the memorial. Please name your person. Thank you.

Want to learn more? Visit our NEW LibGuide AIDS: A People's History of the Pandemic.