IMAGE GALLERY: Remembering Their Names

Those that we love may leave, but their memory will not be forgotten.

Amherst Middle School has hung three NAMES Quilt blocks in the school library to keep the memory alive for the men and women who have been taken by AIDS.

The blocks were hung on Monday and will remain until World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. This day is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. 

Students in 7th and 8th grade social studies classes have been invited to schedule a time with the library to view the blocks. These quilt blocks put a name of an individual that succumbed to the disease for the students, according to a press release from AMS. 

Each individual panel gives students a greater understanding of the impact on people’s lives and what has been taught to them about HIV/AIDS over their years at the middle school.

Parents and staff are also invited to stop by and view the blocks during the day. If you plan on viewing the quilt please sign in at the office before you proceed to the library.

The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was founded in 1987 by a small group of people to document the lives of those who had died from complications of AIDS. This group wanted to help people understand the devastating impact of the disease so that the world would not forget those who died.

The middle school has had a different display of blocks each year for the past 15 years.

Today there are over 40,000 panels on the quilt to commemorate the lives of AIDS victims. Each panel is approximately 3’ by 6’ and eight are sewn together to become a 12’ by 12’ block. Each block is given a number in the NAMES Project computer system. The number is used to keep track of the blocks as they travel around the country. 

This quilt in its entirety is the world’s largest community arts project. If assembled today as one quilt, it would weigh 56 tons and measure 56 miles if all panels were laid end-to-end. 

It has been displayed several times on the Mall in Washington, DC. The quilt blocks represent many different countries from around the world. This quilt represents all peoples of the world working together to find a cure for AIDS.