Ryan White: A Geospatial Analysis of his Correspondence

Abstract

The letters Ryan White received over the course of his diagnosis, illness, and eventual death show a spatial distribution that reflected the United States’ response to Ryan’s condition. Ryan was diagnosed with AIDS in December of 1984 at the height of the epidemic, and the panic that surrounded it. In 2000, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis accessioned a selection of letters sent to Ryan White and his mother, from 1980 to 1993. The expanded incorporation of these letters into the museum’s “Power of Children” gallery will introduce museum visitors to the public view on Ryan and the role he played in developing the public perception and awareness of AIDS in the 1980’s. Originally, it was anticipated that the distribution and number of letters Ryan received directly related to the concentration and spread of AIDS cases around the US. This research assumed that the AIDS community would have been more supportive and empathetic of Ryan’s diagnosis, resulting in those populations sending a higher number of letters. This assumption was also informed by the fact that the highest number of AIDS cases were in areas with large populations such as New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami. Yet findings showed relatively few letters were coming from the populated coasts where AIDS was more prevalent, and many more letters than expected came from areas with lower populations across the US. Ryan was one of the first children to go public with his AIDS diagnosis, which sparked strong reactions among people throughout the United States. Ryan’s correspondence and the outpouring of support he received allows insight into the multifaceted reaction to the AIDS crisis, especially from young people. Before Ryan became associated with the AIDS epidemic, this disease was seen primarily as an urban, gay, and drug-user related issue. The goal of this research is to gain further understanding of society’s shifting response to Ryan and AIDS during the 1980’s, by placing these letters in their social and geographic context.