On Dec. 13, Gerber/Hart Library and Archives unveiled a new exhibit among its collection of LGBTQ historical records: Red Ribbon for AIDS awareness stamps. This marked the 25th anniversary of the stamps' circulation in the United States Postal Service in an effort to increase AIDS awareness.
The exhibit features stamps and other AIDS-awareness memorabilia including pins, license plates and Scout Badges, as well as other objects bearing the Red Ribbon on various materials from the United States and around the world.
These materials are part of a significant collection brought together by art collector, author and organizer Norman Sandfield, who opened the exhibit with a presentation on the history of the stamps and their importance in raising AIDS awareness within the broader history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Sandfield discussed facts about the stamps' circulation in the United States, including how it was the first to use the Red Ribbon image, how proceeds from the stamps went to funding AIDS research and how other countries, particularly European countries, designed and circulated their own stamps.
The Red Ribbon for AIDS Awareness exhibit has also been featured in Anchorage, Alaska and Albuquerque, New Mexico, and will run here in Chicago through February. It can be viewed for free at in the Gerber/Hart Library in Rogers Park, along with exhibits for pins and other memorabilia in the Atrium and Gerber/Hart's Walgreen's Pharmacy ( this latter including Red Ribbon pins from Hard Rock Café ). A similar exhibit—The City That Werqs: A History of Chicago's Drag Revolutionaries—is in the Norman Sandfield Gallery and will run until April.
For more information on the Red Ribbon for AIDS Awareness Stamps as well as for other Gerber/Hart exhibits and collections, visit www.gerberhart.org/empowerment .
Related: www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/AIDS-Awareness-Stamps-Exhibit-and-Presentation-Dec-13/64774.html .
