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NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt display, Minneapolis
Quilt panel memorializing 212 Minnesotans who died of AIDS, 1988. Panel made by Leah Hassett, Barb Sarapas, and many others. The photograph is from the Minnesota Names Quilt Project Report manuscript collection held at the Minnesota Historical Society.
Begun in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco in 1987, the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt grew into a nationwide community art project memorializing those who had been killed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Lovers, families, and friends of people who had died sewed quilt panels; others created them for individuals they had never met. In 1988, the quilt embarked on a national twenty-city tour and arrived at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis on July 16.
In 1988, there was little mainstream political will to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which had been first identified in 1981. Though it affected all people, HIV/AIDS had been stigmatized as a disease associated only with gay men and drug users. NAMES Project director Cleve Jones, a leader of the gay rights movement and a human rights activist, stated that the objective of the quilt was not only to combat HIV/AIDS, but to fight the “ignorance, hysteria, and bigotry” surrounding the disease.
A Minnesota NAMES Project committee formed in Minneapolis to coordinate the display of the quilt at the Metrodome. It secured funding and support from Minnesota businesses, organizations, and individuals. On June 25, ten local community centers, hospitals, churches, and schools held workshops for creating and stitching panels.
In early July, the committee began collecting finished quilt panels. Every panel was unique, and poetry, written remembrances, and biographical information accompanied many of them. These stories had already been collected into a volume in order to preserve them. Organizers held fundraising events at gay bars and nightclubs—the Y’all Come Back Saloon and the Gay ‘90s in Minneapolis and Rumours in St. Paul.
Over 1,000 volunteers worked at the Metrodome on July 16 and 17. They dressed in all white and wore color-coded bandanas representing the tasks they had been assigned. Some helped unfold twelve-by-twelve-foot quilt blocks, each made up of eight panels that displayed the names of individuals who had died of HIV/AIDS. The blocks were assembled into groups of four and laid out with pathways so the public could walk among them. In total, 109 twenty-four-by-twenty-four-foot squares were displayed, representing 3,488 people.
The entire NAMES quilt represented the 36,864 people who had died of HIV/AIDS since the epidemic had begun. Weighing more than 11,000 pounds and larger than four football fields, it was one of the biggest public art displays in state history and the largest-ever indoor display of the quilt. A brochure for the event stated that the quilt was “a celebration of life and a way to unlock grief.”
Among the quilt were eighty-one panels memorializing hundreds of Minnesotans. A panel at the center of the display was reserved for visitors to add names of their own. On July 16, local officials, religious leaders, physicians, and community members read the names on the quilt during a public ceremony. State Senator Allan Spear and State Representatives Lee Greenfield and Bruce Vento attended. Minnesotans who had created quilt panels were specifically acknowledged.
On July 17, public viewing of the quilt continued; in the evening the local and national NAMES committees made their closing remarks. Regional panels were officially presented to the National Committee. At eight o’clock in the evening, the quilt display closed.
Other events were held in conjunction with the display. On the evening of July 16 and in the afternoon of July 17, the Magic Circle Ensemble presented “Safe Sex” at the Pillsbury House to benefit the Minnesota AIDS Project (MAP). Beginning at ten o’clock on the evening of July 16, an all-night HIV/AIDS vigil was held at Metropolitan Mt. Sinai Medical Center Chapel. At noon on July 17, the AIDS Film Project held a fundraiser at the Uptown Theater.
All of the money raised during the events supported the display of the quilt and HIV/AIDS services in Minnesota. In the following months, community gatherings were held in Minneapolis to thank volunteers and help people stay engaged in the cause. The Minnesota panels and remembrances traveled with the quilt as it continued on its tour, which culminated in a display on the Capitol Mall in Washington, D.C.

Bibliography
“10 Quilting Sites Around Town June 25.” Minneapolis GLC Voice, June 20, 1988.
http://reflections.mndigital.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16022coll2/id/37271/rec/192
“AIDS Memorial Quilt Comes to Minnesota July 15–17.” Minneapolis GLC Voice, July 5, 1988.
http://reflections.mndigital.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16022coll2/id/37291/rec/193
“Bruce Brockway, Pianist, Sire of Gay Press in MN, Police Reporter, Friend of Refugees Dies of AIDS.” Minneapolis GLC Voice, September 4, 1984.
http://reflections.mndigital.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16022coll2/id/35089
Cleve Jones. About Cleve.
http://www.clevejones.com/about-cleve/
The NAMES Project Foundation. The AIDS Memorial Quilt.
http://www.aidsquilt.org/about/the-aids-memorial-quilt
“Names of AIDS Victims Broadcast at Metrodome.” Minneapolis GLC Voice, July 18, 1988.
http://reflections.mndigital.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16022coll2/id/37307/rec/194
P2685
Minnesota NAMES Quilt Project report, undated, 1993, 1996
Manuscript Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: The collection contains a remembrance volume with photographs of each of the eighty-one Minnesota quilt panels accompanied by additional information.
The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt: Minnesota Tour ’88; July 16, 17 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota. [Minneapolis: The NAMES Project, 1988].
The NAMES Project: National Tour, 1988. [San Francisco: The NAMES Project, 1988].
Tretter: 289
NAMES Project records (AIDS Quilt), 1987–1992
Manuscript Collection, Archives and Special Collections, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
Description: The NAMES Project Records contain organizational documentation concerning the AIDS quilt and its premier national tour in 1988.
http://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/13/resources/2082
Simone, Renata, et al. The Age of AIDS. [Alexandria, VA:] PBS Video, 2006.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/aids/
Van Cleve, Stewart. Land of 10,000 Loves: A History of Queer Minnesota. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012.
Related Resources
Primary
Gaze TV Collection. UMedia Archives, University of Minnesota.
https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/taxonomy/term/931
OH 42
Interview with Leo Treadway, December 14, 1993
Oral History Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: Treadway discusses his coming out and move to Minnesota. He speaks in great detail about his involvement as a gay man with both the Presbyterian and Lutheran Churches and their attitudes towards gays and lesbians, and issues of homosexuality. Treadway was co-chair of the NAMES Project Minnesota Committee.
http://collections.mnhs.org/cms/display.php?irn=10108044
Secondary
Franklin, Michael David, ed., et al. Queer Twin Cities: Twin Cities GLBT Oral History Project. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010.
Royles, Dan. "Silence = Death: It's Time to Teach AIDS History." Perspectives on History, October, 2016.
https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/october-2016/silence-death-its-time-to-teach-aids-history
Shilts, Randy. And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic. New York: Penguin, 1988.
Web
AIDS.gov. A Timeline of HIV/AIDS.
https://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/aids-timeline/#year-1981
The Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies.
https://www.lib.umn.edu/tretter
Related Images

Quilt panel memorializing 212 Minnesotans who died of AIDS
Quilt panel memorializing 212 Minnesotans who died of AIDS, 1988. Panel made by Leah Hassett, Barb Sarapas, and many others. The photograph is from the Minnesota Names Quilt Project Report manuscript collection held at the Minnesota Historical Society.
Holding Location

Quilt panel memorializing an “anonymous uncle”
Quilt panel memorializing an “anonymous uncle,” 1988. Panel made by Dan Becker of the Minnesota Quilt Committee. The photograph is from the Minnesota Names Quilt Project Report manuscript collection held at the Minnesota Historical Society.
Holding Location

Quilt panel memorializing Jeff Buzzetti
Quilt panel memorializing Jeff Buzzetti, 1988. Panel made by Betty and Buzz Buzzetti. The photograph is from the Minnesota Names Quilt Project Report manuscript collection held at the Minnesota Historical Society.
Holding Location

Quilt panel memorializing Chuck and Bryan
Quilt panel memorializing Chuck and Bryan, 1988. Panel made by Gay Lesbian Outreach, Albert Lea. The photograph is from the Minnesota Names Quilt Project Report manuscript collection held at the Minnesota Historical Society.
Holding Location

Quilt panel memorializing Enrique Martinez
Quilt panel memorializing Enrique Martinez, 1988. Panel made by Dan L. The photograph is from the Minnesota Names Quilt Project Report manuscript collection held at the Minnesota Historical Society.
Holding Location

Quilt panel memorializing Emilian Reznicek
Quilt panel memorializing Emilian Reznicek, 1988. Panel made by Jim Chalgren, Don, Bill Kummer, Bill Rogers, Marcia Ritterling, Judith Hentges, and Susan Hentges. The photograph is from the Minnesota Names Quilt Project Report manuscript collection held at the Minnesota Historical Society.
Holding Location

Quilt panel memorializing Jack Wagner
Quilt panel memorializing Jack Wagner, 1988. Panel made by Lynne Wagner and Mary Majors. The photograph is from the Minnesota Names Quilt Project Report manuscript collection held at the Minnesota Historical Society.
Holding Location

Quilt panel memorializing Thomas Ralston and Robert Lausten
Quilt panel memorializing Thomas Ralston and Robert Lausten, 1988. Panel made by Kelly Minard. The photograph is from the Minnesota Names Quilt Project Report manuscript collection held at the Minnesota Historical Society.
Holding Location

NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt at the Metrodome
NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt at the Metrodome, 1988. Photograph by Manuel Miranda III.
Holding Location

NAMES Project hat
Hat given to volunteers at the NAMES Project tour stop in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1988.
All rights reserved
Holding Location
More Information

NAMES Project handkerchief
Cotton handkerchief given to volunteers at the NAMES Project tour stop in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1988.
All rights reserved
Holding Location
More Information

NAMES Project Bandana
Names Project Bandana given to Brian Coyle for reading names from the AIDS quilt when it was shown at the Metrodome, July 16–17, 1988.
All rights reserved
Holding Location
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NAMES Project button
NAMES Project Button worn by Brian Coyle when he read name from the AIDS Quilt during the Names Project Tour at the Metrodome, 1988.
All rights reserved
Holding Location
More Information

Front page of the Minneapolis GLC Voice
Front page of the Minneapolis GLC Voice on July 18, 1988.
Holding Location

Brian Coyle’s AIDS Memorial Quilt panel
Brian Coyle’s AIDS Memorial Quilt panel on display at the Livingston Lord Library at Minnesota State University Moorhead. Photograph by Trista Raezer-Stursa, November 30, 2021.
All rights reserved
Holding Location
Related Articles
Turning Point
On June 25, 1988 the Minnesota NAMES Project Committee hosts quilt-panel workshops across the Twin Cities.
Chronology
May 1982
November 27, 1985
July, 1987
April 7, 1988
June 1988
June 25, 1988
early July 1988
July 16, 1988
July 17, 1988
July 18, 1988
October 7, 1988
1992
October 12, 1996
2005
2017
Bibliography
“10 Quilting Sites Around Town June 25.” Minneapolis GLC Voice, June 20, 1988.
http://reflections.mndigital.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16022coll2/id/37271/rec/192
“AIDS Memorial Quilt Comes to Minnesota July 15–17.” Minneapolis GLC Voice, July 5, 1988.
http://reflections.mndigital.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16022coll2/id/37291/rec/193
“Bruce Brockway, Pianist, Sire of Gay Press in MN, Police Reporter, Friend of Refugees Dies of AIDS.” Minneapolis GLC Voice, September 4, 1984.
http://reflections.mndigital.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16022coll2/id/35089
Cleve Jones. About Cleve.
http://www.clevejones.com/about-cleve/
The NAMES Project Foundation. The AIDS Memorial Quilt.
http://www.aidsquilt.org/about/the-aids-memorial-quilt
“Names of AIDS Victims Broadcast at Metrodome.” Minneapolis GLC Voice, July 18, 1988.
http://reflections.mndigital.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16022coll2/id/37307/rec/194
P2685
Minnesota NAMES Quilt Project report, undated, 1993, 1996
Manuscript Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: The collection contains a remembrance volume with photographs of each of the eighty-one Minnesota quilt panels accompanied by additional information.
The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt: Minnesota Tour ’88; July 16, 17 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota. [Minneapolis: The NAMES Project, 1988].
The NAMES Project: National Tour, 1988. [San Francisco: The NAMES Project, 1988].
Tretter: 289
NAMES Project records (AIDS Quilt), 1987–1992
Manuscript Collection, Archives and Special Collections, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
Description: The NAMES Project Records contain organizational documentation concerning the AIDS quilt and its premier national tour in 1988.
http://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/13/resources/2082
Simone, Renata, et al. The Age of AIDS. [Alexandria, VA:] PBS Video, 2006.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/aids/
Van Cleve, Stewart. Land of 10,000 Loves: A History of Queer Minnesota. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012.
Related Resources
Primary
Gaze TV Collection. UMedia Archives, University of Minnesota.
https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/taxonomy/term/931
OH 42
Interview with Leo Treadway, December 14, 1993
Oral History Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: Treadway discusses his coming out and move to Minnesota. He speaks in great detail about his involvement as a gay man with both the Presbyterian and Lutheran Churches and their attitudes towards gays and lesbians, and issues of homosexuality. Treadway was co-chair of the NAMES Project Minnesota Committee.
http://collections.mnhs.org/cms/display.php?irn=10108044
Secondary
Franklin, Michael David, ed., et al. Queer Twin Cities: Twin Cities GLBT Oral History Project. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010.
Royles, Dan. "Silence = Death: It's Time to Teach AIDS History." Perspectives on History, October, 2016.
https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/october-2016/silence-death-its-time-to-teach-aids-history
Shilts, Randy. And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic. New York: Penguin, 1988.
Web
AIDS.gov. A Timeline of HIV/AIDS.
https://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/aids-timeline/#year-1981
The Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies.
https://www.lib.umn.edu/tretter