Long Description:The Key West Aids Memorial has a website
(
visit
link) 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.