One faces the future with one’s past.   —Pearl Buck

No matter how familiar, the numbers still startle. Since 1981, 1.7 million people in the United States have been infected with HIV.1 More than 550,000 have died. And the epidemic still rages. AIDS casts an ominous shadow on our history and on our future as a Nation and as a people. But with this shadow comes light—from pioneers, professionals, volunteers, activists, and people living with HIV/AIDS themselves.

These brave souls and the milestones and events that they have lived over the past quarter century shape the history of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. This Web site captures that history and the knowledge that only history can offer. In this way we honor the past, and use it to build an ever-improving response to HIV/AIDS.