Critical Path AIDS Project Records

This collection consists of information gathered by Kiyoshi Kuromiya about topics and organizations relating to HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection / acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), records of Kuromiya's HIV education project "Critical Path AIDS Project," and some personal papers. Because Kuromiya both participated in numerous HIV/AIDS organizations and was active in gathering treatment information for his educational project, Critical Path, this collection provides an excellent overview of the landscape of HIV/AIDS research and activism in the 1990s. The focus is on Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but the national and international impact of the HIV epidemic is also addressed. The collection is organized into five series: "I. Data files," "II. Subject files," "III. Critical Path AIDS Project records," "IV. Personal papers," and "V. Anna Forbes records of the Working Group on HealthChoices and HIV."

The first series, "I. Data files," comprises about half of the collection, and is maintained in the rough alphabetical order established by Kuromiya. Note that there are gaps in the arrangement because several sections from Kuromiya's original files were never received by the Archives. This series contains materials on various HIV/AIDS-related topics, such as treatments, opportunistic infections, advocacy groups, health research organizations, and conferences. There are also files on general topics of interest to persons with AIDS and some files on individual people. The materials are mostly newspaper clippings, scientific/academic articles, and health reports. There are also large quantities of flyers, newsletters, pamphlets, and conference materials for particular organizations. Some personal correspondence is scattered throughout.

The second series, "II. Subject files," is organized into six sub-series: "A. State and local HIV/AIDS programs," "B. Conferences," "C. HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (HCSUS)," "D. Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS (CPCRA)," "E. AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) Philadelphia," and "F. Miscellaneous subjects." Subseries "A. State and local HIV/AIDS programs" consists of meeting minutes, memoranda and correspondence, administrative documents, records, reports, and information about HIV planning and treatment programs for Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. Well-represented are The Philadelphia AIDS Consortium (TPAC), Philadelphia Eligible Metropolitan Area HIV Commission (Philadelphia EMA HIV Commission), and Pennsylvania AIDS Education and Training Center (PA AIDS ETC). There may be overlap between this subseries and "III. Critical Path AIDS Project records: D. Grants" in the area of the Ryan White CARE Act. Subseries "B. Conferences" includes materials relating to local, national, and international conferences on HIV/AIDS research, pharmaceuticals and treatments, and affected populations. Most of the conferences, meetings, and forums represented are events that Kuromiya attended; he presented at some of them. The files are in alphabetical order, usually by conference name, and include conference programs, presentation outlines/hand-outs, and correspondence about attending. The next subseries, "C. HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (HCSUS)," includes materials about the planning and execution of the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (HCSUS). HCSUS was the first major research effort to collect information on a nationally representative sample of people in care for HIV infection, conducted from 1994-2000 by a consortium of private and government institutions centered at RAND Corporation (Research ANd Development, a private nonprofit research institution). Kuromiya was a contributing author, and this subseries includes correspondence with RAND and other contributing authors, drafts, and related materials. Subseries "D. Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS (CPCRA)," includes meeting minutes, conference programs, drafts of studies, reports, correspondence, and other materials related to Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS (CPCRA). The CPCRA was formed in 1989 as a clinical trials program that conducted research in primary care settings through a national network of community-based clinical units, including a Philadelphia unit. Kuromiya was a member of the CPCRA Community Constituency Group (CCG), Science Planning Committee, and HIV Therapies Core Group. Subseries "E. AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) Philadelphia" includes flyers, clippings, press releases, and other documents relating to the Philadelphia branch of the direct action advocacy group that aims to bring about legislation, medical research and treatment, and policies to end the AIDS epidemic. The final subseries in the Subject files series, "F. Miscellaneous subjects," includes files with HIV resources - directories, guidelines, and resource guides, - clippings, scientific articles, and various other materials by or about HIV/AIDS organizations.

The third series, "III. Critical Path AIDS Project records," is organized into four subseries: "A. 'Critical Path' newsletter," "B. Office files," "C. Invoices," and "D. Grants." Subseries "A. 'Critical Path' newsletter" relates to one of the earliest (founded in 1989) and most comprehensive sources of HIV treatment information, which was routinely mailed to thousands of people living with HIV. The subseries consists of production-related materials such as drafts, illustrations, and layouts, as well as printed copies of the Critical Path AIDS Project newsletter. Subseries "B. Office files," is primarily composed of financial records with some administrative documents from the Critical Path AIDS Project. There are budgets, bills and invoices, and materials relating to office costs, as well as employment applications, mailing lists, usage statistics, and other administrative documents. Most of the invoices and some receipts, however, are filed separately in reverse chronological order in subseries "C. Invoices." The final subseries in the third series, "D. Grants," consists of information about various grants for HIV/AIDS organizations, which Kuromiya considered for Critical Path AIDS Project or other organizations with which he was involved. The subseries includes grant information, requests for proposals, and applications by Kuromiya. The largest quantity of materials in this subseries relates to the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act (Ryan White CARE Act), the largest federally funded program in the United States for people living with HIV/AIDS, enacted by United States Congress in 1990. Title I provided funds to eligible metropolitan areas and Title II funded states for base grants and AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). There may be overlap between this subseries and "II. Subject files: B. State and local HIV/AIDS programs" in the area of the Ryan White CARE Act.

The fourth series, "IV. Personal papers," is organized into five subseries: "A. Personal," "B. Travel," "C. Buckminster Fuller," "D. Legal files," and "E. Audiovisual materials and objects." Subseries "A. Personal" includes some of Kuromiya's personal financial and health records, a large quantity of restaurant review clippings, and various other papers of a personal nature. Of special interest is the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) file's on Kuromiya, obtained by the William Way Center through a Freedom of Information Act request in the 2010s. Subseries "B. Travel" includes pamphlets and research on hotels, airlines, and travel services, as well as some receipts, tickets, and other papers. Subseries "C. Buckminster Fuller" includes clippings about Kuromiya's mentor Buckminster Fuller, correspondence and inquiries about Cosmography (a book by Fuller for which Kuromiya served as "adjuvant"), and pamphlets from the Buckminster Fuller Institute. Subseries "D. Legal files" is comprised of court documents relating to two cases Kuromiya participated in. In 1996, he testified in the successful lawsuit against the Communications Decency Act, case No. 96-511 in the Supreme Court of the United States (October term, 1996): Janet Reno, et al. v. American Civil Liberties Union, et al. He was the leading plaintiff in a case calling for the legalization of marijuana for medical uses, No. 98-3439 MK in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Kiyoshi Kuromiya, et al., v. The United States of America. Subseries "E. Audiovisual materials and objects" includes about one dozen color slides from a drug study presentation, several floppy disks, four plaques and certificates, numerous photographs. Most of the photographs are from the IX International Conference on AIDS (Berlin, Germany: 1993 June 7-11) and X International Conference on AIDS (Yokohama, Japan: 1994 August). Photographs depict conference speakers/events, conference events and marches, and sightseeing Kuromiya undertook on his journeys to and from the conferences. There are also some additional photographs, notably from a pilgrimage Kuromiya took with his mother to the Japanese internment camp in Wyoming where he was born, Heart Mountain Relocation Center Memorial (circa 1995).

Lastly, the final series in this collection is "V. Anna Forbes records of the Working Group on HealthChoices and HIV." The precise relationship between Anna Forbes and Kuromiya is unclear, although both were AIDS activists in Philadelphia. Forbes was an employee of the Working Group on HealthChoices and HIV, a coalition of forty-five service provider and advocacy organizations that addressed problems that people living with HIV/AIDS had with Southeastern Pennsylvania's Medicaid managed care plan, HealthChoices. Critical Path AIDS Project was one of the member organizations of the Working Group. Forbes' records include minutes, correspondence, mailing lists, clippings, printed information, and other records of the Working Group. Kuromiya also maintained a separate file on the Working Group, which is included at the end of this series.