“Together, Let’s Educate Ourselves to Live” – The AIDS Education Fund at Whitman-Walker

As part of Whitman-Walker’s 40th anniversary, officially January 13, 2018, we’re sharing 40 stories to help tell the narrative of the Whitman-Walker community. This week we’re highlighting the AIDS Education Fund (AEF). In 1983, two years after the first reported cases of HIV/AIDS, Whitman-Walker created the AIDS Education Fund to respond to a community in crisis. To ease fears stemming from a lack of information on HIV/AIDS, Whitman-Walker and the AEF sponsored programs to educate and support both people living with AIDS and the larger DC community. Through public forums, hotlines, support groups, the buddy program, and advertising in The Washington Blade the AIDS Education Fund was a vital and multifaceted response to a community in need of information and support. Look through the following advertisements, courtesy of The Washington Blade, to see the AIDS Education Fund’s work to inform and engage the DC community on HIV/AIDS.

1. “A National Forum on AIDS” Advertisement from October 7, 1983.
2. “SAFE SEX SEMINAR: Techniques for Reducing the Risk of AIDS” Advertisement from April 27, 1984.
3. “WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE HTLV III ANTIBODY TEST” Advertisement from June 21, 1985.
4. “Whitman Walker Clinic Programs: Care for the Gay and Lesbian Community” Advertisement from June 25, 1985.
5. “FACE THE FACTS” Advertisement from April 18, 1986.
6. “Why We Can’t Wait” Advertisement from January 23, 1987.
7. “Director’s Choice” AIDS Education Fund Benefit Advertisement from May 6, 1988.