Diary, July 1983-February 1984
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection consists of a handwritten diary kept by Bobbi Campbell, nurse, nurse practitioner student, and self-identified "AIDS Poster Boy." Campbell was one of the first, and most public People with AIDS (PWA's), speaking at numerous conferences and other events. The diary runs from July 1983 through February 1984 and is a very frank description of his life and activities during these seven months. Numerous snapshots are also included in the collection.
The diary chronicles his life during this period, including speeches to various groups about living with AIDS and the concerns of People with AIDS (PWA's), his other travels and recreational activities, and his relationship with his partner, Bobby Hilliard. Besides date, Campbell also noted the time of his entries using a 24 hour clock, for example, the first entry starts 17:20 July 28, 1983, corresponding to 5:20 p.m. of that day, sometimes several different times are recorded under one date, meaning that he made multiple entries at various times during that day. The diary includes many frank references to drug and alcohol use and sex.
In addition to the diary itself, the collection contains two folders of loose material removed from the diary. First are 5 pieces of paper including menus from two dinner parties, an announcement of a Radical Fairies gathering, and a spoof of the announcement. The other folder contains the snapshots that were stashed between many of the journal's pages. Only a few are identified and they appear to have been randomly placed or to have been moved, since the photos of identifiable events are often nowhere near the corresponding written description. Photographs removed from between the same pages have been kept together in photo envelopes within the folder. Where identification is obvious it is noted on the envelope.
Dates
- Creation: July 1983-February 1984
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English
Access
Collection is open for research.
Extent
From the Collection: 1 box (.2 linear feet)
Repository Details
Part of the UCSF Archives and Special Collections Repository
UCSF Kalmanovitz Library
530 Parnassus Avenue
San Francisco CA 94143-0840 USA
https://www.library.ucsf.edu/archives/ask-an-archivist/