UCSF AIDS History Project was started in 1987 to promote the preservation of historically significant resources relating to the beginning of the AIDS Epidemic, focusing on the responses by community-based organizations (CBOs) within San Francisco. Nancy Zinn, Head of Archives and Special Collections at the UCSF Library, was the Principal Investigator for the project until her retirement. She was subsequently replaced by Robin Chandler, who became the Principal Investigator for the project in April 1995. Bill (aka Willie) Walker was the Archivist for the project. In 1991 a National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) grant was received to fund the AIDS History Project Records Survey. More than 50 agencies were surveyed to identify the records that should be permanently preserved. A second two-year NHPRC grant funded an extended survey of collections and development of an acquisition plan. A major part of the project was providing instruction in records management practices to the CBOs. A third NHPRC grant was received in 1993 for another two years for the Records Acquisition and Processing Project (RAPP) phase; this grant lasted until July 1995, later extended to December 1995.

The organizations represented in this collection cover a range of starting dates and structures, from the AIDS HIV Nightline, a project of the San Francisco Suicide Prevention, which was started around 1986, to the HIV Educators Support Group, which was organized in 1991 by David Baker. The HIV AIDS Housing Network was a coalition of other AIDS and social service organizations, such as: Catholic Charities, Homeless Advocacy Project, AIDS Foundation, BCA, Hope House, Harvey Milk Club, Red Cross Homeless Prevention, DSS, Mayor's Office, Larkin Street, and Shanti.

Some of the organizations targeted ethnic or special-needs communities. The Adolescent HIV Coalition, the Children's AIDS Network, and the Youth Environment Study focused on children and teenagers. Latino issues were addressed by CURAS (Communidad Unida en Respuesta Al SIDA or Community United in Response to AIDS/SIDA), the Latino Coalition on AIDS/SIDA, the Latino Commission on AIDS, the Latino Service Needs within the SF AIDS Service System report and, Instituto Familiar de la Raza. Native American AIDS issues are addressed by the Urban Indian Health Board. African American organizations are represented by the African-American Men's Caucus and the Black Coalition on AIDS. The National Minority AIDS Council draws on several different minority-based organizations.

There are two broad religious coalitions, the Interfaith Conference on AIDS and the Interreligious Coalition on AIDS, and one congregationally based organization, the Most Holy Redeemer Support Group, in the collection. Medical and treatment issues are represented by the AIDS Educators Network, the AIDS Health Project, the San Francisco Medical Society AIDS Task Force, the VNA (Visiting Nurses Association) of San Francisco, and the HIV Treatment Advocate. The other organizations in the collection are KAIROS House, the Needle Exchange Community Task Force, and the Stop AIDS Project.