AIDS Quilt RI records

The AIDS Memorial Quilt was conceived by Cleve Jones in November 1985 in San Francisco as a memorial to people who died of AIDS. Cleve created the first panel in memory of his friend, Marvin Feldman, an actor who was born and raised in Providence but later moved to San Francisco. . In June 1987, Cleve and group of other activists formally organized the NAMES Project Foundation. Goals for NAMES Project chapters were to use memorial quilt panels to display the enormity of the AIDS epidemic and the need for compassionate response; building a powerful, positive, creative symbol of remembrance and hope; and encouraging donations to people living with AIDS and their caregivers. Each quilt panel memorializes a person or group who died from AIDS-related illnesses.

NAMES Project RI was founded in 1991 by a committee led by Ray Scott of Providence. Scott first viewed the quilt during the The Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Washington, DC in 1987. Prior to starting the RI chapter he worked on six panels with friends and loved ones, including assigned AIDS buddies and friends. In 1992 the Rhode Island chapter became an affiliate chapter of the national NAMES Project. Feldman’s parents Sidney and Esther later became honorary board members of NAMES Project RI. The chapter organized displays, programs, and quilting bees both in Rhode Island and regionally. These displays ranged from a few panels to much larger displays. A 1994 display at Rocky Point Park was the final event at the amusement park palladium before it was shut down. In 2002, NAMES Project RI voted to disaffiliate from the national organization due to burdensome reporting requirements and a contract that the chapter’s steering committee deemed unfair.

In 1993, Beth Milham took over management of the RI chapter. Milham at the time was a certified HIV counselor and a staff nurse at the Codac III Methadone Maintenance Program in Newport. She was active with RI Project AIDS (now AIDS Project RI). Beth and Russ Milham were married in 1964 and moved from the Boston area to Rhode Island in 1972 when Russ, a Lieutenant in the United States Navy, was transferred to Newport. Beth Milham was a nurse who worked with the behavioral health care organization CODAC from 1990-2005. Both Beth and Russ Milham were very active in social, environmental, and clean energy causes including the Norman Bird Sanctuary, Channing Memorial Church, and a number of LGBTQ+ rights causes including Project NAMES (the RI AIDS Quilt) and Straight But Not Narrow Coalition.