Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use

No usage restrictions.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Emily Gordon Papers #05724, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

These materials were donated to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill LGBTQ Center, then later transferred by the LGBTQ Center to Wilson Library (Acc. 103041).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Jennifer Coggins, April 2017

Encoded by: Laura Smith, April 2017

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• ACT UP (Organization)
• AIDS activists--United States.
• Civil rights--United States.
• Gordon, Emily, 1935-
• Human rights workers--United States.
• World AIDS day.

Emily Gordon (December 17, 1935 - ) is a social work professional and activist. Born in New York City, N.Y., she grew up in Michigan and in 1952 attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. She later completed her degree at the University of California Los Angeles after a time living in El Paso, Tex. In the 1950s and 1960s she was involved in activism for civil rights and racial equality, against nuclear weapons, and other causes. In the late 1980s, while she was working as a social worker at Covenant House in New York City, she became aware of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), and became involved with the organization. Around the same time, she began working at the New York City Health Department. She moved to Carrboro, N.C., in 2001, ending her involvement with ACT UP.

ACT UP is an advocacy group formed in 1987 to fight for policies and research benefiting people with AIDS and combat the AIDS pandemic.

This collection includes scrapbooks, photographs, news clippings and ephemera documenting the activities of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) from 1988 to 1997. These materials were collected and compiled by ACT UP activist Emily Gordon, and document protests at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia; the 1988 Democratic Convention, St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Vincent's Hospital, and the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, N.Y., and other locations. Also included are materials related to political funerals in Washington, D.C.; World AIDS Day events; the AIDS Quilt; and the Lesbian and Gay Freedom Ride.

• Oversize folder (OPF-05724/1)
• Oversize volumes (SV-05724/1-8)
• Image folders (PF-05724/1-3)