1988 AIDS Memorial Quilt on the Ellipse

Aerial view of the Ellipse in October 1988, the 2nd display of the quilt in Washington, DC.

NPS

Quick Facts

Location:

The Ellipse

Significance:

Location of AIDS Memorial Quilt display in 1988.

Amenities

1 listed

Wheelchair Accessible

In 1988, the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was displayed in Washington, DC, for the second time. Covering almost the entire open grass field in front of you, 8,288 panels, each representing a loved one lost to AIDS, were displayed on the Ellipse from October 6 to 8. In one year, the AIDS Quilt had grown from its inaugural display of 1,920 panels on the National Mall on October 11, 1987, to four times that a year later. 

Most quilt panels are created by a deceased person's loved ones posthumously. Duane Kearns Puryear, though, had a different idea. While attending the 1988 display, the Dallas AIDS activist created his own memorial panel. In simple black capital letters on a white background, it read, "My name is Duane Kearns Puryear. I was born on December 20, 1964. I was diagnosed with AIDS on September 7, 1987, at 4:45 PM. Sometimes, it makes me very sad. I made this panel myself. If you are reading it, I am dead…" Puryear completed his quilt panel while in Washington, DC. He intended to send his quilt panel to the NAMES Project but accidentally lost it traveling home. Puryear passed away three years after completing his panel. His family ultimately recreated Duane's panel to remember his legacy. 

Each panel of the quilt, measuring 6 feet by 3 feet, resembles the size of an average grave and serves as a memorial and celebration of the person who died of the disease. Sewing quilt panels to memorialize people who died from AIDS is both a protest and remembrance since many AIDS victims did not receive funerals or grave sites due to the intense stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS at the time. Although anyone can contract AIDS, the AIDS epidemic emerged in the United States during the 1980s and disproportionately affected gay and bisexual men, as well as transgender women. Because of this stigma, governments and healthcare organizations around the world were slow to act to combat the AIDS crisis.  

1988 was not the last time the AIDS Memorial Quilt was displayed on the Ellipse. 8,000 new panels were displayed on the Ellipse in 2004 for National HIV Testing Day. These panels still only represented a fraction of people that have died of AIDS in the United States. To date, over 700,000 people in the United States have died from AIDS. The AIDS Quilt is now considered the largest community arts project in history. 

Reflection Question

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