History of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic

See also: Origins of HIV

Overviews and Articles

ACT UP Oral History Project Brings Activists' Words to Your Ears (Regularly Updated)
An online collection of more than two dozen (and growing) interviews with many of the people who were at the forefront of the original AIDS activist movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
From ACT UP Oral History Project
The Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic: A Timeline of Key Milestones (Regularly Updated)
An interactive timeline designed to serve as a reference tool for many of the political, scientific, cultural and community events that have occurred since the beginning of the epidemic.
From Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
HIV in the Classroom: Making AIDS Activist History a Part of U.S. History (March 29, 2013)
A conversation with Jim Hubbard, co-director of the ACT UP Oral History Project.
From TheBody.com
New York: Historical Society Exhibition to Explore the Early Days of AIDS (March 14, 2013)
In CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update, from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Bitter Sweet Pain of Remembrance: A Blog Entry by Dave R. (March 11, 2013)
From TheBody.com
CROI at 20: A Look Back (February 28, 2013)
From Journal Watch
On TheBodyPRO.com
Newsweek's Last Article on AIDS Breaks "AIDS Fatigue," but Is Racially & Historically Problematic (January 10, 2013)
In Housing Works AIDS Issues Update, from Housing Works
The Global Geography of HIV: 20 Years of Change -- in 1 GIF (November 29, 2012)
With just two years until UN member states hit their Millennium Development deadline for AIDS, a reminder of how far we've come -- and what's still left to do.
In The Atlantic
On a Darkling Plain -- The Years of Despair (Fall 2012)
Before the discovery of HAART.
To read PDF, click here.
In TAGline, from Treatment Action Group
Webcast Reflects on International AIDS Conference (July 27, 2012)
In Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, from Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

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2001: AIDS at Twenty

"Extraordinary Journey": Scientists Appraise 20-Year War Against AIDS (July 15, 2003)
In CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update, from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Living With AIDS -- 20 Years Later (November/December 2001)
In FDA Consumer, from U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Past_Present_and_Future@20 Years (August 2001)
To read PDF, click here.
In Project Inform Perspective, from Project Inform
Twenty Years of AIDS: An Exhibit of the Museum of the City of New York (August 2001)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive
AIDS Epidemic Now 20 Years Old, but Still in Early Stages (June 5, 2001)
From UNAIDS
Background on the 20th Anniversary of AIDS (June 5, 2001)
From Office of Minority Health
The New York Times Covers the Grim 20th Anniversary of AIDS (Summer 2001)
Free registration required to read this article.
In The New York Times
AIDS at 20 (June 2001)
A great series of articles.
In Newsday
Twenty Years of AIDS (Summer/Autumn 2001)
In Bulletin of Experimental Treatments for AIDS, from San Francisco AIDS Foundation
Twenty Years of AIDS (June 2001)
By Cleve Jones, founder of the AIDS Quilt Project.
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project
AIDS Is Twenty -- It Is Time to Grow Up! (June 2001)
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project
The AIDS Time Line: 20 Years, 20 Drugs, 20 Million Deaths (Spring 2001)
In Women Alive Newsletter, from Women Alive
Two Decades of AIDS: Scenes From an Epidemic (January 2001)
In Body Positive, from Body Positive

Ronald Reagan's AIDS Legacy

Ronald Reagan and AIDS (September/October 2004)
David Salyer recaps some of the highlights of the Gipper's life and presidency -- and laments how he never used his formidable political skills to do something about AIDS during the epidemic's first years.
In Survival News, from AIDS Survival Project
Ronald Reagan Remembered: The First Public Discussion on AIDS (June 12, 2004)
A transcript of the first public mention of AIDS in the Reagan White House, at a press conference on October 15, 1982.
In AIDS Treatment News, from AIDS Treatment News
Regarding the Death of Former President Ronald Reagan: A Letter to My Best Friend, Steven Powsner (June 6, 2004)
By Matt Foreman, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, on Reagan's inaction during the early days of the AIDS epidemic.
From National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Rewriting the Script on Reagan: Why the President Ignored AIDS (November 14, 2003)
Dartmouth College instructor Michael Bronski offers a thoughtful analysis of Ronald Reagan's decision to pay so little attention to the growing AIDS epidemic during his tenure as president.
In Forward

First Reports of HIV in the U.S.

Today in History -- June 5 (June 5, 2009)
In CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update, from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
HIV/AIDS: A Disease Named, Research Continues (August 2006)
From Infectious Disease News
HIV/AIDS: Unfolding Cases of an Escalating, Rare Cancer (July 2006)
From Infectious Disease News
HIV/AIDS: The Discovery of an Unknown, Deadly Virus (June 2006)
From Infectious Disease News
Follow-Up on Kaposi's Sarcoma and Pneumocystis Pneumonia (PDF) (August 28, 1981)
In Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Kaposi's Sarcoma and Pneumocystis Pneumonia Among Homosexual Men -- New York City and California (PDF) (July 4, 1981)
In Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Pneumocystis Pneumonia -- Los Angeles (June 5, 1981)
The first published case reports of what ultimately came to be known as AIDS.
To read PDF, click here.
In Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention