On Richard’s panel, we included two pictures of him, and two pieces of his art work
The rest of the panel was made from his clothing; his flannel shirts made the border and the letters, his jeans some of the “fun” pieces, and his tee shirts, the rest. I feel that the panel is “very Richard.”
Richard’s partner, Jack Neville, wrote these words to honor him forever, by making a Quilt panel and providing these memories.
The letter, along with other materials, are part of the AIDS Memorial Quilt’s archival collections that now rest within the prestigious American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. This archival collection currently totals more than 200,000 items. It includes biographical records, correspondence, photographs, tributes, epitaphs, news clippings and artifacts submitted by panel makers that add context about the lives memorialized on The Quilt panels.
The American Folklife Center and National AIDS Memorial are working together to preserve the archival records and digitize them so the stories contained within can be forever shared with the public.
