Dr. Jill Biden, second lady of the
United States, on Wednesday viewed sections of the AIDS Memorial
Quilt at The National Museum in Washington, D.C.
Biden toured the display with Julie
Rhoad, president and CEO of The NAMES Project Foundation.
What started in San Francisco in 1987
by AIDS activist Cleve Jones has grown into the largest piece of
community folk art in the world, won an Oscar and been nominated for
a Nobel Peace Prize. With more than 47,000 panels, it weighs in at
an estimated 54 tons. The quilt now includes the names of more than
94,000 individuals who have died of AIDS.
Sections of the quilt are being shown
throughout the capital during the International AIDS Conference.
In a White
House blog post, Biden said she was “moved by what I saw.”
“Every piece of the AIDS Memorial
Quilt tells a poignant story – and is a powerful reminder of the
many lives lost to this epidemic,” she wrote.
“The quilt is a powerful reminder of
how far we have come. As President Obama said on World AIDS Day, we
will win this fight.”