An historic protest took place at the Burroughs Wellcome building in 1989, over the issue of the cost of the vital AIDS drug, AZT. The protestors barricaded themselves in the building and, after being evicted, the chained protestors were led away by… — An historic protest took place at the Burroughs Wellcome building in 1989, over the issue of the cost of the vital AIDS drug, AZT. The protestors barricaded themselves in the building and, after being evicted, the chained protestors were led away by local police. This was posted by one of the ACT UP activists who helped plan and participate the demonstration: Peter Staley (seen at right).

WHY WE cARE ABOUT—AND PRESERVE—BUILDINGS

We can celebrate a work of architecture for many reasons: the place it has in a community’s heart, the quality of its design, the splendid fitness of a building in relation to its setting, the way it exemplifies a designer’s finest work, and the key place it stands in an architect’s oeuvre.

All the above would apply to Paul Rudolph’s Burroughs Wellcome building. Indeed the building has received many accolades from users and architectural critics, and architectural historians—including this assessment from A Field Guide to Landmarks of Modern Architecture in the United States by Miriam F. Stimpson:

“The building is one of its kind in the nation.”

BUILDINGS AND HISTORY

The above image of the arrested protestors shows, in the background, a portion of the Burroughs Wellcome building from which they had just emerged. Here’s the same elevation, as shot by the distinguished architectural photographer G. E. Kidder Smith… — The above image of the arrested protestors shows, in the background, a portion of the Burroughs Wellcome building from which they had just emerged. Here’s the same elevation, as shot by the distinguished architectural photographer G. E. Kidder Smith. Image courtesy of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

But another reason—one that looms large, when deciding for the preservation of a building—is its importance as a site of historic events. Here, Burroughs Wellcome’s research and corporate headquarters building, in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park, has at least two solidly strong points in its favor:

Burroughs Wellcome was the site of Nobel Prize-winning work by Gertrude Elion and Walter Hutchings—research that led to the introduction of numerous life-saving medicines—including AZT, the first effective medication for the treatment of HIV.
In the midst of the AIDS crisis, it was the site of a key protest about AZT. This was not only important for the immediate issue involved (pricing and availablity, and the related accusation of price-gouging monopoly). It was also historic for the way it showed that a giant corporation (a significant player in “Big Pharma”) could get ‘push-back’—and have their policies affected in positive ways.

1989: A DECISIVE MOMENT FOR (AND AT) BURROUGHS WELLCOME

“Silence = Death” poster, designed by the Silence = Death Project, a six-person NYC-based collective. Starting in the late 1980’s, this image was used by (and often identified with) ACT UP, in their fight against AIDS. Image courtesy of Wellcome Ima… — *“Silence = Death” poster, designed by the* *Silence = Death Project*, a six-person NYC-based collective. Starting in the late 1980’s, this image was used by (and often identified with) ACT UP, in their fight against AIDS. Image courtesy of Wellcome Images, a website operated by Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation based in the United Kingdom

THE PROTAGONISTS: ACT UP

ACT UP (the "AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power”) was first formed in 1987. It is a grassroots political group, organized as local chapters, that has been working to address the AIDS crisis. The group works through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy, and working to change legislation and public policies—and their their current official statement asserts:

OUR MISSION:
ACT UP — the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power — is a diverse, non-partisan group of individuals, united in anger and committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis. We meet with government officials, we distribute the latest medical information, we protest and demonstrate. We are not silent.
ACT UP was formed in response to social neglect, government negligence and the complacency of the medical establishment during the 1980s. Soon it found itself needing to fight corporate greed, lack of solidarity and various forms of stigma and discrimination at home and abroad.
While ACT UP has an incredible history, HIV/AIDS is not history. HIV/AIDS is very much with us. And we call on you to join our fight to end AIDS.
ACT UP FIGHTS FOR:
Sustained investment in research for new medicines and treatments for HIV/AIDS and related co-infections;
Equitable access to prevention and care for HIV/AIDS and healthcare, in general;
Tackling the structural drivers of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, such as stigma, discrimination and poverty.

ACT UP became famous for their “actions” —well-planned demonstrations and provocative protests, at key locations, which would get the most attention on the issues for which they campaigned. Early in ACT UP’s history, Burroughs Wellcome would become an entity upon which they strongly focused.

The Nobel Prize medal. Awarded to Elion and Hitchings—including for work they did while at the Paul Rudolph-designed Burroughs Wellcome building in North Carolina. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons — *The Nobel Prize medal. Awarded to Elion and Hitchings—including for work they did while at the Paul Rudolph-designed Burroughs Wellcome building in North Carolina. Image courtesy of* *Wikimedia Commons*

THE PROTAGONSTS: BURROUGHS WELLCOME

A giant (and innovator) in the pharmaceutical industry, it was founded in London in 1880 by Sir Henry Wellcome (1853-1936) with his colleague Silas Burroughs (1846-1895). Some important aspects of their history include:

Wellcome set up several research laboratories, and employed some of the most outstanding scientists of the day.
They spread the use and selling of medicine in tablet form—previously, medicines had been sold mostly as powders or liquids.
In the 1920s Burroughs Wellcome established research and manufacturing facilities in Tuckahoe, New York—which served as the US headquarters until the company moved to Research Triangle Park in North Carolina in 1971.
Nobel Prize-winning scientists Elion and Hitchings worked there and invented drugs still used many years later, including treatments for leukemia, gout, viral infections, and organ transplant rejection.
In 1984, Burroughs Wellcome scientist Marty St. Clair was at the forefront of developing the first treatment for HIV - AZT, which was approved in 1987 - utilizing the methods pioneered by Elion and Hitchings.
Burroughs Wellcome introduced a new treatment for cold and flu symptoms, Sudafed, followed by Actifed, both of which became popular consumer brands.
Glaxo and Wellcome merged in 1995, to form Glaxo Wellcome. Burroughs Wellcome was one of the four large entities that eventually merged to form GlaxoSmithKline.

AZT was the first medication shown to be effective against HIV. Image courtesy of Wikimedia commons — *AZT was the first medication shown to be effective against HIV. Image courtesy of* *Wikimedia commons*

THE ISSUE: AZT PRICING AND AVAILABLITY

We’ll let one of ACT UP’s most well-known activists, Peter Staley, tell what was at issue. In an interview with TIME reporter Maia Szalavitz, she asked him:

Q: You’ve had a complicated relationship with the pharmaceutical industry, and you never shied away from working with them or attacking them. How did you manage not avoid becoming shills who took their money or outsiders who never got heard?
A: The quick answer is Burroughs Wellcome [the company that made AZT, the first AIDS drug]. AZT and Act-Up were born in same month. When they announced the $10,000 [annual] price for the drug, [it] shocked not only us but the New York Times. At the time, it was the highest price of any drug in history.

THE DEMONSTRATION AT BURROUGHS WELLCOME

Screen capture of the web page with the Time article which has an interview with Peter Staley. The image shows Staley being arrested at another ACT UP protest. — *Screen capture of the web page with the* *Time article* *which has an interview with Peter Staley. The image shows Staley being arrested at another ACT UP protest.*

Peter Staley continues:

That quickly became one of the planks in Act-Up’s first demonstration. It was a persistent fight against [the company] to lower the price. In 1989, Mark Harrington [a fellow Act-Up member] and I decided to up the pressure on that campaign because [AZT] was in wider and wider use. So we requested a meeting, they granted it, and we met with the father of AZT, Dr. David Barry. He was head of research at Burroughs Wellcome and he was one those guys who is too brilliant for his own good and looked down on everybody. Mark and I went to their headquarters and laid out our case why the price was unjustified and he pushed back very hard.
The whole time I was scoping out their headquarters and figuring out how we can get in. It was down in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. They ignored us, so we did an invasion of their headquarters a few months later. It was a shot across the bow of their corporate culture. I was very aware of how corporations try to make employees happy to work there; I had been part of the team at JP Morgan. It’s very important to corporations. So I wanted to make everyone at Burroughs Wellcome feel guilty about working there. I think we accomplished it that day.

In an oral history interview, Staley gives further details:

Blaine Mosley, James McGrath, there were about 7 of us, and we even had our own media spokesperson who didn’t go inside, who had a coat and tie on, and we got past security and used high – we were called the power drill team because we had those battery-operated power drills and we sealed ourselves in with screws into this office after convincing a woman to evacuate. And, all over the local news down there, and very sympathetic news coverage. It was a story where the whole country was on our side from the beginning. Everybody was offended by the $10,000 a year.

Or as ACT UP’s chronology described it:

On April 25, 1989, Staley and three other activists barricaded themselves in an office at Burroughs Wellcome in Research Triangle Park, NC, to protest the price of AZT (at the time priced at $8,000-$10,000 per year). The four protesters used power tools to bolt metal plates to the door of an unoccupied office and had planned to drop a banner that would be visible from the nearby highway, Interstate 40, before authorities cut their way through a wall. The protestors then chained themselves together, and were cut apart and charged with trespassing and property damage.

MEDIA COVERAGE AT BURROUGHS WELLCOME

The demonstration was covered, both in-print and videoed—and a key point was offered by a spokesperson for ACT UP:

“We’re not denying that they deserve a profit, but we say it should be a reasonable profit on a drug that people need to stay alive.” —Dan Baker, ACT UP

A film., “The Plague: (History of AIDS)” is an Emmy-nominated documentary by Jenny Barraclough. It includes vintage footage taken at several ACT UP events—and in it (at about 33:53) you can see the four Burroughs Wellcome protestors. They have been arrested and are being led away—with the Burroughs Wellcome building in the background. They are allowed to stop for Peter Staley to make a statement to a reporter.

Coverage of the protest at Burroughs Wellcome included this article in the Dispatch newspaper of Lexington, North Carolina. The four protestors are shown after their arrest, giving a press conference. — *Coverage of the protest at Burroughs Wellcome included this article in the* ***Dispatch*** *newspaper of Lexington, North Carolina. The four protestors are shown after their arrest, giving a press conference.*

THE FOLLOW-UP DEMONSTRATION AT THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE

Staley tells what came next:

We started getting inside intelligence from employees telling us [what was going on] — because gays are everywhere — and we said, ‘This is only Round One. Lower the price or we’ll escalate.’ The whole industry was watching and were horrified. It wasn’t until a major study came out showing that AZT not only helped the sickest but those [who were not yet that ill] and the government recommended that more people be put on it and the stock price shot up, that we said, O.K., let’s do a stock exchange action.
And the New York Times editorialized against [Burroughs Wellcome], and there were Congressional hearings. Forty-eight hours after [the demonstration], they buckled and lowered the price by 20%. From then on, the industry said it’s probably smarter to try to talk to [activists] and placate them as much as we can.

In an oral history interview, Staley gives full (and exciting) details of the careful planning of the demonstration—and what actually happened:

*Included in ACT UP’s tactics were publicity—as in the form of the above poster—urging boycotting of Burroughs Wellcome products.*

It was a story where the whole country was on our side from the beginning. Everybody was offended by the $10,000 a year.
So, it, but it really, and again they ignored us. But it really got full steam going in August of ’88 when the government released new data on AZT showing that it helped people with, not only with full-blown AIDS, but it also looked helpful with people with AIDS-related complex. And, everybody said okay, well the market’s going to expand for this drug. T&D [ACT UP’s Treatment & Data committee] started working in coalition with mainstream AIDS organizations.
In a series of conference calls, and this was with GMHC and Lambda Legal Defense and AIDS Action Council in Washington, and AmFar. And we were all trying to work on multi-pronged ways to pressure them. AIDS Action Council was looking at pushing for congressional hearings with Kennedy, etcetera, and Waxman. In fact there were congressional hearings to bring in the executives of Burroughs Wellcome to explain the $10,000 price. And there was media being generated with New York Times editorials and so it was actually great coalition work. ACT UP was almost took all the credit for the price decrease, but it was actually wonderful diverse coalition work that ACT UP didn’t do a lot of it that time, but that happened, and that was happening. It was actually very cool.
So the company was feeling it from all sides and it was just snowballing. And the Stock Exchange action itself was just kind of the last push. They were under just tremendous public pressure by the time the Stock Exchange action happened. So it was kind of the last push that just pushed them over the edge.
And ACT UP, we actually met with them in coalition with all these groups at a hotel outside their headquarters, ’cause they wouldn’t let me near their headquarters in Raleigh-Durham about two weeks beforehand. And we told their PR people that the Stock Exchange action was going to happen. Not the one inside, but the one outside and that if they wanted us to cancel the action they had between now and then to lower the price and just constant trying to make this happen. And again that meeting was a complete stonewalling - just like the David Berry meeting earlier in the year.
And we had a member of ACT UP who actually worked as a trader on the New York Stock Exchange who was able to tell us how lax the security actually was. And there was this door that you could use to get into the Stock Exchange, one of the, there are various doors you could go through. But one of them is right under the columns that you see of the famous picture of the Stock Exchange. So, it faces Broad Street, where the columns are and right behind those columns is that big floor you see on the news. So, that door is literally, you go into it and then there’s three steps to your left, a little landing and another three steps up and you’re on that floor. It’s that close to the street. And there’s no traffic on that street anymore ’cause a bomb would really do a job on the New York Stock Exchange just from the street. So, and there was just one security guard there with no metal detectors. That’s all there was for the entire Stock Exchange.
So he told us about that door and I started quietly putting together a crew. Many had done the [Burroughs Wellcome] action earlier down in North Carolina. I had Gregg Bordowitz and, I’m trying to remember. We had James McGrath again, much of the same crew that I had before and there were seven of us. Robert Hilferty was one of the photographers, ’cause we needed to record the action without telling the press in advance. So we had to take our own pictures. And, what we did is, we needed to get those white trading badges. So, a couple of weeks beforehand we acted like tourists and we had video cameras. And we stood outside the Stock Exchange, acting like tourists during lunch when many of the traders are standing outside smoking and what have you. And we would zoom down and actually zoomed in on one of these trading badges. And then drew one up based on that design and took it to this kind of pawn shop in Greenwich Village that makes badges and things. And we told, we gave the guy a whole story that we were doing a skit for a holiday party or something like that, and we needed these badges for the skit we were doing. And they’re just these white plastic tags that had those big num-, the traders’ numbers on them with the name of the firm underneath and a black line through the middle – thick plastic rectangular things. They all had photo IDs, but our contact on the floor told us that nobody, everybody kept those in their wallets. Nobody had to show them to get in. It was just kind of a visual look. If you had the white badge, that’s all you needed. So, we had these badges made, very cheaply.
They looked great and we had to do a test run to make sure it worked. So, me and two others from the group – Robert Hilferty and one other, the Tuesday before the action, which was on a Thursday, we went in with the opening bell, the rush before the opening bell. It opens at 9:30 and there are a bunch of traders that stand outside that door smoking their last cigarette. So, at 9:25 we stood around with them in trader drag, with a tie and shirts and our badges, pretending to be traders, and we walked in with them in the rush, to see if that would work. And, the security guard didn’t bat an eye and all of a sudden we were on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
And, I wanted to figure out where we would do the demonstration. So we’re walking around, the bell is ringing, trading is starting, everybody is busy, we actually pull out little pads of paper because that’s what people seem to carry around. (laughs) So, we’re looking like traders, and we discovered this old VIP balcony that wasn’t used anymore, that had a steep little staircase, an old wooden balcony. And it was perfect because it had a big NYSE banner hanging over it, which would be a great backdrop for the photo. And, there was no gate in front of it. It was unused so we didn’t have to push anybody aside, or have anybody wrestle with us once we got up there and I said – this is great, and you guys’ll just stand on the floor we’ll give you, we’ll have two cameras – in case one of the shots doesn’t work, two photographers – high ASA film so that flashes don’t go off, or anything like that. And we’ll chain ourselves up there and do our routine. But then I got stopped on the trading floor. This guy comes up to me, this old guy and says, “hey – you’re new!” And, I’m like, “ah, yeah!” I start to sweat. And, he says, “Bear Stearns.” I said, “yeah, yeah.” ’Cause all of our badges said “Bear Stearns.” We just picked a firm out of a hat. And he said, “that’s weird – 3,865” – my number was 3,000-something. He said, “the highest number on the floor is 1600, there are only 1600 traders here.” (laughs) And I said, “I don’t know. This is the one they gave me.” (laughing) And I’m starting to sweat more and he goes, “well, I guess so, I guess they’re trying a new system, well, welcome.” And he shook my hand and that was it, he walked away, and I was like – holy shit! So we went back to the pawnshop and said – you got to make all new badges. We had like 48 hours before the demo was happening, so.
And we all met at a McDonald’s beforehand that morning on Nassau Street, nervous as all hell. And seven of us, five that would go up to the balcony, two photographers, and, the photographers were supposed to take our picture and get out right away, outside, and hand the cameras over to the runners that would take them up to Associated Press. And, we had, each of us had stuff under our t-shirts. One person had a huge banner that was all folded up. He looked a little fat. I had a gigantic chain wrapped in a fanny belt that we’d chain ourselves to the banister at the top of this thing, so it would take them a while for, to pull us off the balcony. We all had handcuffs in our pockets. We all had little marine foghorns that were ear-piercing and that’s how we would announce our presence. And then we had these, in honor of Abbie Hoffman who was the first and only person to ever organize an action on the Stock Exchange at what was then the visitor’s gallery, which is now walled off because of Abbie Hoffman, with glass. He threw down fake, he threw down dollar bills onto the floor of the Stock Exchange, real dollar bills as a rant against how capitalism was funding the [Vietnam] war. We did something in honor of him, we had fake $100 bills made up that had, on the back of them. . . .
So, we all piled in at 9:25, walking right past security and the five of us walked up the stairs of the balcony and pulled everything, knelt down and pulled everything out from under our shirts and we waited for the bell and chained our, put the chain around the banister all handcuffed ourselves to it, got the whole banner unrolled which said “Sell Wellcome”. And, at 9:29 and 50 seconds we jumped up and put the banner over and all let off the foghorns, you couldn’t hear the opening bell, and it was extraordinary. The place just, for a second, just went dead quiet except for the foghorns as everybody tried to figure out what was happening. And they then started going into a rage as they realized what was happening. And the photographers took their pictures quietly and got out, handed the cameras off, but they saw that the crowd had started getting really, they were beginning to throw wads of paper at us and getting very angry and they were concerned, so they foolishly went back in and they quickly got nabbed. The traders were looking around for conspirators and they got real roughed up, shirt collars were ripped and stuff like that. And these guys were just raging at us, and I used to work with that testosterone and it was, ah, it was really one of the most gratifying moments of my life, ’cause I realized it was done. It was, we had succeeded, we got through security, it was done. The picture was taken, this was a gigantic news story. And they could scream all they wanted but we were going to be on the front page of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal the next day.
Question: Did their [Burroughs Wellcome’s] share price go down?
A little bit, a little bit. That wasn’t the goal. It was just to really keep this as a major story. And it was, the next day. And three days later they lowered the price by 20 percent. Which was the first, and unfortunately the last time an HIV drug has had its price lowered in the US. But, fortunately we’ve seen very dramatic price declines in the developing world.
But, it became a real, it became a real kind of “don’t cross this line” type thing, so the savings were way beyond just AZT.

And the ACT UP chronology records it this way:

On September 14, 1989, Staley and six other activists staged another demonstration to protest the rising cost of AZT, this time in the New York Stock Exchange. Dressed in suits and carrying fake credentials, they chained themselves to a balcony above the trading floor before unfurling a banner that read "Sell Wellcome", drowned out the opening bell with airhorns, and dropped fake $100 bills. . . . We die while you play business." on the traders below. Within days, Burroughs Wellcome lowered the price of AZT by 20%.

MEDIA COVERAGE AT THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE

Shutting down the NYSE is NEWS—and this demonstration was even more widely covered, both in the mainstream and community media.

ACT UP activists, arrested and being led out after a protest at the New York Stock Exchange.

Outweek, published from 1989-to-1991, was a prominent news magazine for the LGBT community. This site makes available a full archive of their entire run of issues—and includes articles on ACT UP protests, like the one at the New York Stock exchange,… — *Outweek, published from 1989-to-1991, was a prominent news magazine for the LGBT community.* *This site* *makes available a full archive of their entire run of issues—and includes articles on ACT UP protests, like the one at the New York Stock exchange, shown below.*

OUTWEEK, a NYC-based newsmagazine serving the LGBT community, gave continuous coverage to all issues relating to the AIDS crisis. That included AIDS-related medical developments, political tumult, effects on behavior and culture—and the the numerous activities and protests (“actions”) by ACT UP, like the one at the New York Stock Exchange. Their article (below) includes photos of the protest, from both inside and outside the NYSE building. The lower-left image shows the banner which the ACT UP protestors secretly brought into the building and unfurled within. Their actions shocked of all the traders, and shut down the exchange.

EFFECTS OF THE BURROUGHS WELLCOME DEMONSTRATIONS

Victor Zonana, in a July 1, 1992 article in the Los Angeles Times, describes additional follow-up effects of these Burroughs Wellcome demonstrations:

In a symbolic rapprochement between AIDS activists and the pharmaceutical industry, Burroughs Wellcome Co. kicked off a fund-raising drive for AIDS research Tuesday by donating $1 million to a campaign originated by the activist organization ACT UP.
The donation, the largest cash gift by a pharmaceutical company to an AIDS research organization, will be administered by the community-based clinical trials program of the American Foundation for AIDS Research. It will result in a nearly 50% increase in AmFAR’s grants for community-based drug research.
The Burroughs gift is the first step in an ACT UP campaign to tap the industry for $5 million in annual contributions to community-based research. . . .
While $1 million may not be a huge sum for Burroughs--the company sold $1.6 billion worth of products, including $182 million of AZT, in the first six months of its current fiscal year--AmFAR officials said the contribution is significant for the hard-pressed AIDS research effort, which is facing cutbacks at the federal level.
AmFAR, which will administer the funds to be generated by the ACT UP initiative, made $2.2 million in grants to its network of community-based trial centers last year, said Paul Corser, the program’s director.
Staley, a former Wall Street bond trader who is on disability leave because of his own HIV infection, was the driving force in bringing ACT UP and Burroughs together. He is a member of AmFAR’s board of directors and called community-based research “an important alternative to our government’s clinical research program.”
“With their donations,” Staley added, “the industry will help build an invaluable network of research sites through which promising AIDS treatments can be tested.”.
ACT UP has contacted 50 companies and asked them to contribute a total of $5 million to the new program by Sept. 1. “We approached Burroughs Wellcome and asked them to respond early to kick off the campaign in a public way,” Staley said.
Although a small faction within ACT UP was against the joint press conference, arguing that Burroughs was using the gift to garner a public relations bonanza, Staley said he had no reservations.
“The federal research effort is not working,” he said. “We’ll take help wherever we can get it. This is a desperate situation.”
But other pharmaceutical companies shouldn’t draw comfort from ACT UP’s truce with Burroughs, he said.
“The activist community continues to have issues with the pharmaceutical industry, and when push comes to shove, we will continue to raise them as we have in the past,” Staley said, adding that the Burroughs gift vindicates activists “who believe we should use many different tools and approaches to achieve our ends.”\

KEEPING HISTORY ALIVE bY SAVING ARCHIVES, DOING RESEARCH—aND PRESEVING HISTORIC BUILDINGS

The protest at the Burroughs Wellcome building was a moment of historic import—for it showed that one of the pharmaceutical world’s most powerful companies could be challenged—and that their actions could be affected.

Burroughs Wellcome, AZT, drug pricing, and the controversy surrounding them, has even been the subject of academic research, as in this paper from Harvard. — *Burroughs Wellcome, AZT, drug pricing, and the controversy surrounding them, has even been the subject of academic research, as in* *this paper from Harvard.*

How does one keep the memory of such important events alive—and ongoingly accessible for study (and inspiration!) That’s a question which occupies the thoughts of activists, historians, and the stewards of each community’s identity and history. Some of the answers include:

The Burroughs Wellcome building, designed by Paul Rudolph—and site of the historic 1989 protest over the pricing of the AIDS drug, AZT. Image courtesy of Joseph W. Molitor architectural photographs. Located in Columbia University, Avery Architectura… — *The* *Burroughs Wellcome building, designed by* *Paul Rudolph*—and site of the historic 1989 protest over the pricing of the AIDS drug, AZT. Image courtesy of Joseph W. Molitor architectural photographs. Located in Columbia University, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Department of Drawings & Archives

ARCHIVES: From nearly its beginning, some members of ACT UP realized that they were engaged in events (and a life-or-death struggle) of historic importance—and so, from early on, efforts were made to record and archive its actions and development. Collections were made from the tidal wave of paper (leaflets, posters, reports, minutes, newsletters…) that were generated, and much of this material made it into the prime ACT UP archive (now held within the archives division of the New York Public Library.) Later, an extensive program of oral history interviews were conducted.

RESEARCH: The movement has been the subject of much academic research and publishing—even including a focused examination of the actions directed at Burroughs Wellcome—as at least one paper from the Harvard Business School shows.

FILM AND VIDEO: Filmmakers and videographers of all kinds have recorded and synthesized this era. A superb example is David France’s documentary, How To Survive A Plague—which was nominated for an Academy Award.

BUILDING PRESERVATION: Yes, archives, academia, and moving pictures are important—but there’s nothing as real, as vital, as vividly authentic as the actual sites where history happened. Preservation of the actual buildings and landscapes where history was made should be a priority for all those who care about heritage and culture. Burroughs Wellcome is not only distinguished as one of America’s finest examples of Modern architecture, but it is also an historic site where a key moment took place in the life-and-death struggle of AIDS activism. It must be preserved.

And when Peter Staley himself commented on Burroughs Wellcome’s headquarters, he said:

“Loved This Building.”

YOU CAN HELP SAVE BURROUGHS WELLCOME !

The Burroughs Wellcome building is threated with imminent demolition.

It’s loss would be a disaster—a titanic waste of our nation’s cultural heritage.

When a great building is destroyed, there are no second chances.

NOW— THERE ARE TWO THINGS YOU CAN DO:

Sign the petition to save Burroughs Wellcome. You can sign it here.
We’ll send you bulletins about the latest developments. To get them, please join our foundation’s mailing list: you’ll get all the updates, (as well as other Rudolphian news.)—you can sign up at the bottom of this page.

The famous Paul Rudolph-designed lobby of the Burroughs Wellcome building, in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The protestors would have been through this central space. Image courtesy of Joseph W. Molitor architectural photographs. Located i… — The famous Paul Rudolph-designed lobby of the Burroughs Wellcome building, in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The protestors would have been through this central space. Image courtesy of Joseph W. Molitor architectural photographs. Located in Columbia University, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Department of Drawings & Archives

THE PROTEST

“HALLLOWED GROUND”

YOU CAN HELP SAVE BURROUGHS WELLCOME !

NOW— THERE ARE TWO THINGS YOU CAN DO:

Burroughs Wellcome: Site of Historic Protest

WHY WE cARE ABOUT—AND PRESERVE—BUILDINGS

BUILDINGS AND HISTORY

1989: A DECISIVE MOMENT FOR (AND AT) BURROUGHS WELLCOME

THE ISSUE: AZT PRICING AND AVAILABLITY

THE DEMONSTRATION AT BURROUGHS WELLCOME

MEDIA COVERAGE AT BURROUGHS WELLCOME

THE FOLLOW-UP DEMONSTRATION AT THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE

MEDIA COVERAGE AT THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE

EFFECTS OF THE BURROUGHS WELLCOME DEMONSTRATIONS

KEEPING HISTORY ALIVE bY SAVING ARCHIVES, DOING RESEARCH—aND PRESEVING HISTORIC BUILDINGS

“Loved This Building.”

YOU CAN HELP SAVE BURROUGHS WELLCOME !

NOW— THERE ARE TWO THINGS YOU CAN DO: