Gerber/Hart Library and Archives celebrated its 30th anniversary with a gala Oct. 1 at The Richard J. Klarchek Information Commons at the Rogers Park campus of Loyola University Chicago. Jill Austin and Jennifer Brier, curators of Out in Chicago at the Chicago History Museum, co-chaired the annual benefit. The evening tied together the founding of the library and the subsequent start of the AIDS epidemic in 1982.
The event paid tribute to late board member Hugh Mathis, who died unexpectedly in January 2011; he was a board member from 2000 through 2004. Gerber/Hart President Karen Sendziak remembered Mathis as an expert at fundraising: "He truly was someone who could make something out of nothing." She said he took on the responsibility of organizing the annual benefit and creating successful silent-auction items. His partner, Bill Wahler, and immediate family listened as Mathis' longtime friend, Steve Hickson, presented the first Hugh A. Mathis Unsung Hero Award. Hickson recalled that whenever he listened to Mathis visionary ideas he thought, "Where will we find the time to do it all?"
Andrew Deppe, who was praised for his activism, received the award in the company of his parents, who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Sendziak presented Stephanie Potter with the John H. Mueller Volunteer Service Award for her "dedication to LGBTQ rights, education and outreach."
The sit-down dinner featured a keynote address by AIDS activist and athlete Brent Nicholson Earle of Niagara Falls, Canada. Earle wore a white sweatshirt by Gay Games founder Tom Waddellmemorabilia from Waddel's participation in the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Earle spoke about his own 20-month run around the United States in 1986 to raise funds for HIV/AIDS organizations. The run was the founding of the American Run for the End of AIDS (AREA). While he acknowledged the role Gerber/Hart played in archiving the history of AIDS from the beginning, Earle was eager to tell his story about his run to a larger audience: "I often feel that [the run] is one of the best kept secrets of public events. Over the years I scan these timelines in the history of AIDS and I search in vain for the run to be recalled." He is currently seeking a publisher for his memoir of the run.
A string quartet from Lakeside Pride Music Ensembles played throughout the course of the evening.
Gerber/Hart Library and Archives was founded in January 1982. This year, it loaned 50 items to the Out in Chicago exhibit at the Chicago History Museum and donated more than 380 books to a new library at the LGBT Center of Raleigh in Raleigh, N.C.
For more information on Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, visit www.gerberhart.org .