A Century of HIV

By

Thomas F. McDow

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Heart shaped balloons.

HIV/AIDS Commemoration

Heart shaped balloons to commemorate those lost from HIV/AIDS on World AIDS Day 2013.

A 1987 poster from the precursor to the protest group ACT UP.

Silence=Death

A 1987 poster from the precursor to the protest group ACT UP.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the 2017 World AIDS Day commemoration.

World AIDS Day

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (center) at the 2017 World AIDS Day commemoration.

ACT UP protesters at the ACT UP 30thAnniversary Gathering Rally.

Make America Single Payer

ACT UP protesters at the ACT UP 30^thAnniversary Gathering Rally in New York in 2017.

An mural to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS Awareness Mural

An mural to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in Mozambique from 2007.

A sign from Zambia in 2005.

Affected or Infected

A sign from Zambia in 2005.

UNAIDS

The logo for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

PEPFAR Logo

The 2015 logo for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in the Central Asia Region.

Two men holding a dead giant chimpanzee.

Giant Chimpanzee

Two men holding a giant chimpanzee killed around 1910.

A stamp commemorating the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s independence.

Congo Independence

A stamp commemorating the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s independence in 1960.

An 1892 caricature of Cecil Rhodes.

The Rhodes Colossus

An 1892 caricature of Cecil Rhodes, a British businessman who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, standing from “Cape to Cairo.”

A 1905 caricature of Belgian King Leopold II.

Leopold II and his Guineas

A 1905 caricature of Belgian King Leopold II with his earnings from the Congo Free State and exploited workers in the background.

Papa Wendo Kolosoy’s 2004 album 'On the Rumba River.'

On the Rumba River

Papa Wendo Kolosoy’s 2004 album “On the Rumba River.”

Patrice Lumumba after being sworn in as the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Congolese Independence

Patrice Lumumba (left center) immediately after being sworn in as the first Prime Minister of the newly independent Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1960.

Portuguese soldiers in Angola during the War of Liberation.

War of Liberation

Portuguese soldiers in Angola during the War of Liberation between Portugal and Angola from 1961 to 1974.

Swedish UN soldier in the Congo.

The UN in the Congo

Swedish UN soldier in the Congo in the 1960s.

A Cuban tank in Angola.

Cuban Armed Forces in Angola

A Cuban tank in Angola in 1976.

A cover page of the Centers for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

A cover page of the Centers for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report in 1981, soon after its initial report set off alarm bells.

A newspaper clipping from 1981.

Rare Cancer

A newspaper clipping from 1981.

Ryan White, a boy with hemophilia.

Ryan White

Ryan White, a boy with hemophilia, became a poster child for HIV/AIDS in the U.S. after his school refused to readmit him after his diagnosis of AIDS in 1984.

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi at the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.

AIDS Bigotry

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi at the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987.

Rock Hudson, Nancy Reagan, and President Ronald Reagan.

The Reagans and Hudson

Despite being close friends with Rock Hudson, President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan made no public statements regarding the actor’s death from AIDS in 1985.

A 1990 ACT UP demonstration at the National Institutes of Health.

ACT UP at the NIH

A 1990 ACT UP demonstration at the National Institutes of Health demanding more research on AIDS.

ACT UP demonstrators at the first Fresno Lesbian-Gay Pride Parade.

Fresno Lesbian-Gay Pride Parade

ACT UP demonstrators at the first Fresno Lesbian-Gay Pride Parade in 1991.

ACT UP and Occupy Wall Street protestors in 2012.

ACT UP & Occupy

ACT UP and Occupy Wall Street protestors in 2012 demanding a tax on Wall Street to fund global AIDS treatment, prevention, and care.

An ACT UP protester at the ACT UP 30th Anniversary Gathering Rally

HIV Criminalization

An ACT UP protester at the ACT UP 30^thAnniversary Gathering Rally in 2017.

ACT UP protesters in 2009.

Fight Homophobia, Fight AIDS

ACT UP protesters in 2009 demonstrating against a bill criminalizing homosexuality in Uganda.

A 2005 sign from Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.

AIDS AIDS AIDS

A 2005 sign from Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania promoting AIDS awareness.

WHO Smallpox Eradication

World Health Organization logo commemorating the eradication of smallpox in 1979.

Robert Gallo in the Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology.

Robert Gallo

Robert Gallo in the Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology at the National Institutes of Health.

A protester at the 30th Anniversary Gathering Rally.

Big Pharma

A protester at the 30^thAnniversary Gathering Rally NYC AIDS Memorial in 2017.

A 2012 sign from San Francisco.

New Wave of AIDS Rage

A 2012 sign from San Francisco.

Street art in South Africa from 2008 appealing for men to not rape children.

I am only a Child

Street art in South Africa from 2008 appealing for men to not rape children. Many falsely believed that raping a virgin would cure AIDS.

Sixth Annual Congress of the Treatment Action Campaign.

Treatment Action Campaign

Attendees, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, at the Sixth Annual Congress of the Treatment Action Campaign in 2017.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu getting an HIV test.

The Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation

Archbishop Desmond Tutu getting an HIV test as part of his foundation’s mobile test unit.

A midwife in Uganda drawing a patient’s blood.

USAID Equipment

A midwife in Uganda drawing a patient’s blood using a machine provided by USAID in 2012.

A 2006 outreach session about HIV/AIDS in Angola.

HIV/AIDS Outreach Event

A 2006 outreach session about HIV/AIDS in Angola.

President Barack Obama at George Washington University.

The Beginning of the End of AIDS

President Barack Obama at George Washington University on World AIDS Day in 2011 (Photo by Lawrence Jackson).

HIV-1 (in green) under a scanning electron micrograph.

HIV-1

HIV-1 (in green) under a scanning electron micrograph.

From left to right: the African green monkey, the sooty mangabey monkey, and the chimpanzee.

SIV Primates

From left to right, the African green monkey (the source of SIV), the sooty mangabey monkey (source of HIV-2), and the chimpanzee (source of HIV-1).

Treatment Action Campaign activists during a 2003 march.

Treatment Action Campaign Activists

Treatment Action Campaign activists during a 2003 march on South Africa’s parliament.

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