AIDS Memorial

The AIDS Memorial in Barbara Hall Park is distinguished by fourteen triangular cement pillars arranged in a crescent shape. These pillars hold stainless steel plaques engraved with the names of community members who have died from AIDS-related illnesses. The memorial grew out of a series of temporary installations held annually in the park starting in nineteen eighty-eight. Activist Michael Lynch and his colleagues organized these early tributes on Lesbian and Gay Pride Day to counter the silence and isolation surrounding the epidemic.