Key West Aids Memorial
Posted by: 
Mark1962
Assisted by: 
ODragon
N 24° 32.865 W 081° 47.096
17R E 420503 N 2715098
Located near the Clarance Higgs Memorial Pier. This memorial is dedicated to residents of the Florida Keys who have lost their battle with the disease.
Waymark Code: WM7VDD
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 12/06/2009
Views: 34
Created From:
Key West Aids Memorial - posted by
ODragon
The Key West Aids Memorial has a website (http://www.keywestaids.org/) that contains the following information:
Key West, with a population of about 25,000 residents, has been especially hard-hit by the AIDS plague. Well over a thousand people have already fallen.
Yet numbers are not the only story. The real tragedy is the individual saga behind every single name on this list. The suffering to each person, to their friends, family and the world that must operate at a loss without that individual's contribution.
The Key West AIDS Memorial at White Street
The Key West AIDS Memorial is a tribute to the people who have died of AIDS. Their names are inscribed on flat granite monuments which are embedded in the walkway approaching White Street Pier at the Atlantic Ocean.
The White Street AIDS Memorial was dedicated on World AIDS Day, December 1, 1997. It was built with private funds , and then donated to the City of Key West. At the time of dedication, 730 names were included, listed in random order. In succeeding years, additional names have been added. There are now more than 1,000 names on the Memorial. The AIDS Memorial at White Street is a City of Key West park.
The White Street memorial has a capacity to commemorate over 1,500 who have died of the AIDS plague, and who showed their love of the Florida Keys by living, working or visiting here. Additional names will be engraved yearly, and dedicated on World AIDS Day, December 1st.
An ad-hoc group called the Friends of the AIDS Memorial, Inc. formed in 1998 with the purpose of preserving, protecting, maintaining and enhancing the physical site. A copy of the group's bylaws is available by clicking here. The organization is authorized to solicit contributions by the State of Florida, and has been granted exempt status as a 501(c)(3) group. Click here for documentation.
You are encouraged to visit the memorial when you come to Key West. It is designed as a quiet peaceful resting area overlooking the splendor of the Atlantic Ocean. Along with the list of names engraved in granite, three poems are set in stone.
Finding a Name on the Physical Memorial
The names engraved on the White Street AIDS Memorial are listed in random order. This web page serves as a directory to find a desired name. The location code first indicates on which of the three major sections the Name is located: Sea, Center, or Street. Then the number following the "R" indicates the vertical row, 1 to 7. The "C" is the column going across, 1 to 14. Note all stones are counted, including blank ones on boarders.
For example, if the stone location code is SeaR5C10, then that stone would be in the part closest the water, five rows down, and in the 10th column across.
And there is also a complete list of the names from the memorial.
Website with more information on either the memorial or the person(s) it is dedicated to: Not listed
Location: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Add another photo of the memorial. You and/or your GPS can be in the photo, but this isn't necessary.