Indiana AIDS Memorial

Located on the grounds of Crown Hill Cemetery, the Indiana AIDS Memorial is the first permanent AIDS memorial installation in the Midwest. Upon its dedication on October 29, 2000, it became the fourth monument in the country memorializing HIV/AIDS victims, after San Francisco’s, Los Angeles’, and Key West’s installations. The Indiana AIDS Memorial recognizes individuals who died in the epidemic and provides a space for healing and support to their family and friends.

Indiana artist Guy R. Grey designed the centerpiece of the memorial, a 10-foot-tall bronze-cast sculpture. It features two cupped, intertwined hands in the shape of a lapel ribbon, the international AIDS symbol. Three limestone tablets form a semicircle behind the memorial. Two tablets are inscribed with the names and lifespans of those who died from AIDS, including Indiana activist Ryan White. In 2003, the third tablet was added and is inscribed with the names of donor individuals and corporations who committed to the fight against AIDS.

The monument does not contain the names of every Hoosier who has died from complications due to HIV/AIDS. Instead, it only includes people by request. At the memorial’s inception, inscription costs were set at $100, a portion of which is donated to the Indiana AIDS Fund.

Around 200 people attended the memorial’s first dedication in 2000, titled “A Day of Remembrance, Celebration and Recognition.” Programming included speakers, dance, music, and poetry recitation by local artists and musicians.

The memorial has continued relevance in the Indianapolis community. It was renovated in 2017 to improve accessibility with the addition of a low wall and concrete base around the memorial’s centerpiece, as well as a sidewalk leading from the memorial to the cemetery road. Later that year on December 1, World AIDS Day, the monument was rededicated.

In March 2023, the memorial received new railings and was rededicated again. This ceremony and railings honored Gary “Allen” Whitehead, who was a member of the Indy Bag Ladies, an Indianapolis AIDS advocacy and fundraising group.

The Indiana AIDS Memorial serves as a visual reminder of the past and present nature of the AIDS epidemic. Its location in Crown Hill, a prominent Indianapolis landmark that has held the lives and histories of many Indianapolis families since 1864, signifies the centrality and memory of the struggle against AIDS in the city’s history. The memorial continues to honor those who died from complications from HIV/AIDS, as well as their caregivers and supporters.