Help Save AIDS Treatment News History

Update September 7,2010: We raised $310 so far and the records are safe for now. Today we confirmed that the University of California wants some of them, to update collections it already has. We still need to raise the rest of the money ($540), plus $662 for delivery (largely because the storage company charges $4.45 per box for "permanent removal" from its records). We also need to find a room in the San Francisco area where we can spend several days sorting the archive -- hopefully free or for a small price.

We will be in San Francisco for about 2 weeks starting September 25, and hope to handle the records then.

August 19, 2010: AIDS Treatment News (ATN) must raise $850 by September 3, 2010, to save historical records of our first 15 years, 1986-2000.

Finding money was easier before 2008, but times have changed.

ATN has 98 standard file boxes (letter size by legal size) in storage near San Francisco. Most are business files, and correspondence including from prisoners. Most of the business records are no longer relevant and can be trashed. But the correspondence and other original documents from before the online age are irreplaceable.

I need to retrieve the 98 boxes and select what should be saved to help document the early history of the ongoing epidemic. And some of the files contain personal medical information and should be shredded. Also, early AIDS brochures, posters, and other publication can be donated to libraries or other collections. (AIDS Treatment News already donated papers to the University of California, but only through 1994.)

ATN is all volunteer, and now all online; there is no expense for staff, rent, utilities, printing, postage, etc. I pay computer, phone, and travel expenses personally, and keep them minimal. There is no other funding. I'm on fixed income and got behind on the storage fees.

We Also Need:

Several days' use of a small/medium office room in the San Francisco Bay area, in September. It should be reasonably accessible to street level, since 98 boxes must be carried in and out.
A few searches on ArchiveGrid, to help us find collections that may be interested in particular material. ArchiveGrid is available at some universities.
Recommendations for inexpensive long-term storage for perhaps 25 boxes. We will not need to retrieve these boxes from storage until they are removed permanently.
Recommendations on arrangements to assure appropriate access to this ATN archive when I'm not here to manage it.

If you can help, let us know.

How to Donate

If you want to help but cannot, you probably know people who could. Refer them to www.aidsnews.org. Investment returns are very low today, but there are great opportunities to invest in a better world.
You can use the PayPal 'Donate' button on this page (or the one at www.aidsnews.org). You do NOT need a PayPal account, if you have one of the credit or debit cards shown under the button, or a check card (debit card) from your bank. Note: PayPal usually does not accept "gift cards," even from Visa, American Express, etc.
Alternatively, if you do have a PayPal account, you could donate to the regular AIDS Treatment News email address, aidsnews@aidsnews.org. You don't need the 'Donate' button.
You could use other online payment services besides PayPal, but check with us first to make sure we can use them. See contact info below.
If you send a check, make it out to John S. James, and sent it to P.O. Box 22603, Philadelphia PA 19110. (The regular AIDS Treatment News address on Locust St. also works, but is checked less often.) After saving the archive we will use additional donations only for AIDS Treatment News or the AIDS Policy Project's focus on a cure.
Let us know if you want public recognition for your donation. Otherwise we will keep it confidential.

For more information contact John S. James at aidsnews@aidsnews.org, or call 215 seven oh three 7001.

2010-08-19