AIDS was first recognized by the CDC in 1981. Despite tens of thousands of Americans dying of the disease in the 1980s, President Reagan did not publicly mention AIDS until 1985 and did not deliver a speech on it until 1987. In this inquiry students will investigate the compelling question, “How do we memorialize loss?”
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About the inquiry
Compelling Question
How do we memorialize loss?
Standards
D2.Civ.10.9-12. Analyze the impact and the appropriate roles of personal interests and perspectives on the application of civic virtues, democratic principles, constitutional rights, and human rights.
Instructional Snapshot
Class begins with a collaborative source exploration in which students examine the history and purpose of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. As they work in small groups, students investigate why a quilt serves as a meaningful form of remembrance and identify how individual quilt panels communicate personal stories, recording their observations in a graphic organizer. Students move to the deliberation stage by investigating the interactive AIDS Memorial Quilt to determine how individuals have made remembrance personal through symbols, images, colors, and written messages. The teacher may circulate throughout the activity, asking students to justify their interpretations and prompting them to consider how different design choices communicate memory and identity. Students finalize the graphic organizer by selecting a quilt square and producing a written description to accompany it, using evidence from the panel to explain its symbolism and significance.
Formative Tasks
COLLABORATE: Explore the history of the AIDS Memorial Quilt to answer why a quilt is significant to historical memory.
DELIBERATE: Record how symbols, images, colors, etc. show how people have chosen to remember the AIDS epidemic.
PRODUCE: Select a quilt square and produce a written description to accompany it.
Sources
Source A: Brett Zongker & Kevin Herglotz, “The Aids Memorial Quilt Moving to San Francisco Under the Stewardship of the National AIDS Memorial”, 2019, Library of Congress
Source B: Avianna Miller, Junior Fellow, and Rachael Bradley Montgomery, “Describing Disability Justice in America”, 2024, Library of Congress
Source C: “Interactive AIDS Quilt”, National AIDS Memorial
Summative Performance Task
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Taking Informed Action
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