by Evelyn Bailey
John Noble, Pat Finnerty and Tim Tompkins, all present at the August
2, 2012 news conference announcing the Smithsonian’s acceptance of the
Helping People With AIDS (HPA) Collection, were instrumental in making
this happen.
John Noble, former City of Rochester Archivist for 25 years before
retiring, was the person who wrote the grants that funded the Gay
Alliance efforts to document and preserve LGBT Rochester History.
John’s involvement in local politics is well known. In 1977, John wrote a
grant for approximately $30,000 under the Comprehensive Employment
Training Act (CETA). This caused an uproar in the community which
highlighted its significance as the first federally funded grant given
to a gay organization in New York. Thirty five years later, John’s grant
writing expertise continues to provide funding for the Gay Alliance’s
work.
Pat Finnerty, Archival Consultant hired under the 2011 – 2012 NYS
Documentary Heritage Archives Grant, contacted the Smithsonian Archives
Center searching for permanent repositories for 15 record collections.
Pat initiated contact with Franklin Robinson, Archives Specialist at the
Smithsonian Archives Center of the National Museum of American
History. She prepared the record collection for shipping. Pat’s
competence and expertise made placement of 15 record collections in
permanent repositories possible. Pat’s skills would be an asset to any
organization, agency, group or individual with records needing to be
documented and preserved.
Tim Tompkins, the keeper of the HPA record collection, was willing to
participate in the Gay Alliance’s Historical Documentation and
Preservation Project by releasing the HPA Collection to the Gay Alliance
for placement in a permanent repository. Tim helped organize the 15th
Annual Dining for Dollars – A Starry, Starry Nite at the Strong Museum
in 2000. In 2003, Tim chaired the HPA Board. By 2003, AIDs no longer
held the death sting of the ‘80’s. AIDs was a chronic disease. The need
for HPA diminished. Members of the HPA Board, with Tim as Chair, decided
it was time to dissolve the organization. Tim followed through with
that decision and in January, 2004 the last official meeting of HPA was
held and all of the HPA accounts were closed out. The fight against AIDs
did not stop, but had become less urgent. For the next seven years,
Tim kept the records including a book of minutes from 1986 to the
present. Now the HPA Collection is a part of the Smithsonian’s AIDS
collection.
Today, the focus is on AIDS education. From the beginning of the
epidemic in the ‘80s, the community has supported any effort to educate,
research and help victims of HIV. Tim has held fundraisers for
research, education programs, advocacy organizations, direct care, and
supportive services of all types for the Rochester lgbt community.
Current statistics indicate the battle is far from over. Thirty-one
years after the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, the
country’s infection rates have not gone down in a decade. Carl Schmid,
the deputy executive director of the AIDS Institute, based in Washington
states, “When people think of AIDS today, most probably don’t realize
that AIDS is still in a crisis mode in (the United States).”
Statistics show the United States has 1.2 million people living with
HIV/AIDS more than ever before. Nearly 20 percent. some 200,000, don’t
even know they are infected. Only half of those U.S. citizens who know
they are infected are on medications. The Kaiser Family Foundation
reports that between 1995 and 2009 the public perception of the
importance of HIV/AIDS declined massively – from 44 to just six percent.
Today 40 percent of new HIV infections in the United States are among
those under 29 years old, and primarily in the gay and African-American
communities. The implications for Rochester are clear. There is much
work yet to be done!
Shoulders to Stand On is proud to document and preserve the history
of Helping People With AIDS and all involved in that effort. Shoulders
to Stand On is proud of the continuous efforts made to educate the
community about AIDS, and asks that we re-commit ourselves to stopping
the spread of AIDS.
Be proud and be safe!