Occasionally, ONE provides tours of the archives for visitors and organizations. These tours as many of you know include a brief history of ONE, the LGBT movement, and several of our collections. During the past year, tour members have asked more questions about the 1980s. How to briefly describe that decade which seemed so close, but so different. Basically the 1980s was a continued period of growth of conservative politics following the backlash of the Wategate era, followed by a crisis, and a backlash from progressive organizations?

Just twenty five years ago in the spring of 1987 the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) had been identified, a test developed, and a single drug had been approved for the treatment of AIDS. However, the early battle over royalties from the blood test signaled for some a greater interest in profits over the lives of human beings. When the test was made available, many agonized over the choice of knowing or not knowing. For those that tested positive for HIV, not a single treatment would be available for more than two years. The most promising pharmaceutical, AZT was a failed cancer drug, developed with federal funding in the 1960s. The drug trial was flawed, the dosage toxic, and when approved by the FDA the price outrageous. During this time the media fed public fears, the human toll was increasing dramatically, and the local, state, and federal government appeared unresponsive.

It was into this environment that the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power, ACT UP was formed by people with little left to lose, there was no cure and what appeared to be an indifferent population that

would rather see them dead. By December, a chapter had formed in Los Angeles. ACT UP Los Angeles confronted politicians, government agencies, insurance companies, and the healthcare industry adapting non-violent protests into a direct confrontation style that drew media attention to educated the public and compel recipients to act. The organization achieved many of its goals, built coalitions, and coordinated actions with other chapters through out the nation. Most importantly for history, they preserved the organization's records. ONE holds the ACT UP Los Angeles collection of over 15 linear feet of records, photographs, banners, protest signs, t-shirts, buttons and stickers. While the collection is almost complete, if you have any additional committee records, related items, please contact us. This collection will be available for researchers in the beginning of April 2012.