In Their Own Words: NIH Researchers Recall
the Early Days of AIDS

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the first publication about AIDS, The NIH History Office announces the launch of a website, "In Their Own Words: NIH Researchers Recall the Early Days of AIDS," at http://aidshistory.nih.gov . The website features some of the oral history interviews the NIH Historian,Victoria A. Harden, and her colleagues have done since 1988 with NIH physicians, scientists, nurses, and administrators whose work comprised the NIH's response to AIDS between 1981 and 1988.

On the topmost pages of five "chapters," voice clips from the interviews can be activated, and a "Transcripts" link leads the viewer to the complete texts of the interviews. A "Timeline" contains a month-by-month chronology of selected items related primarily to NIH's activities and those of other DHHS agencies. A "Document Archive" contains selected published articles, unpublished documents and ephemera, and institute press releases. An "Image Archive" contains selected images related to the epidemic.

Many more interviews, documents, and images will be added as time goes on with the goal of making this site an archival resource on the history of the biomedical response to AIDS.

The website was a joint project of the NIH History Office, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Cancer Institute, the NIH Clinical Center, and the NIH Center for Information Technology.

Please send feedback about the website to: history@nih.gov.

(posted 6/11/01)