Julie Rhoad - Former President and CEO of The NAMES Project & AIDS Memorial Quilt

This episode features Julie Rhoad, the former president and CEO of the NAMES Project Foundation, which serves as caretaker of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, an ever-evolving memorial to lives lost to HIV/AIDS. Julie led the Foundation during its tenure in Atlanta, connecting Southeastern communities with The Quilt’s powerful stories of love and remembrance. She secured the long-term preservation of the AIDS Quilt by establishing the Library of Congress and the National AIDS Memorial as the permanent homes for the memorial and its priceless archival material.

Julie’s oral history was recorded by Morna Gerrard, lead archivist for the Women, Gender, & Sexuality Collection at Georgia State’s University Archives; she is included in the podcast episode to provide additional context.

Out Down South is brought to you by the Atlanta LGBTQ+ History Project and part of the WUSSY Podcast Network.

Hosted by Rachel Garbus (@goodgraciousrachel) and Sam Landis (@iam_samlandis).

Produced by Sam Landis, Rachel Garbus, and Jon Dean (@jondeanphoto)

Edited by Jonathan Thomas Maiocco (@jonathanthomasmaiocco) , who also created the

podcast’s thematic music.

Podcast graphics created by Sam Landis.

Photographer: Alex Pirtle (@photoescapades).

Julie is pictured in front of a panel of The AIDS Quilt in permanent display at The Atlanta History Center.

Project graphic design & social support: Amanda Killian

Project interns: Alyssa Zhang, Alex Campo, Hunter Buchheit, Kaleb Branch, and Oli Turner.

The podcast is funded by a Georgia Humanities grant and individual gifts from LGBTQ+ history-lovers like you. If you would like to support the project, you can by visiting:

atlantalgbtqhistoryproject.org/donate

Stay up to date with the Out Down South Podcast and Atlanta LGBTQ+ History Project on social: instagram.com/atllgbtqhisproj/ or @atllgbtqhisproj on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.