This year marks the 30th year of the first known cases of what would later be called AIDS. To mark this unfortunate milestone, Windy City Times newspaper will run a special 9-month series of articles, essays and photos.
From April through December, 2011, Windy City Times newspaper will have weekly features that will look back at the early days of the epidemic, including profiles of people lost to AIDS, activists, volunteers, service providers, and organizations which sprang up to respond to the crisis.
Windy City Times was founded in 1985, just as AIDS was escalating in Chicago and across the world. This series will pull from the archives of the newspaper, in addition to other Chicago publications produced by Publisher Tracy Baim: Outlines, BLACKlines, En La Vida and Nightspots. These archives include tens of thousands of photos and articles. In addition, a team of more than two dozen reporters will produce new articles about the current state of AIDS."Many young people today do not realize the impact the AIDS epidemic had on the LGBT community," said Baim. "We want to document that history, and give perspective to this disease, which has claimed millions of lives around the world. The AIDS epidemic is not over, even though new therapies have helped some people survive longer."Videos