The Life and Legacy of Ryan White | 71
History of the 90s
Kathy Kenzora
4.7 • 610 Ratings
🗓️ 15 June 2022
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
During the early days of the AIDS epidemic, the North American blood supply became contaminated with HIV from infected donors. As a result, by the mid-1980s, about 10,000 hemophiliacs were infected with HIV. 13-year-old Ryan White from Kokomo, Indiana was one of those who contracted the virus through a tainted blood product and after he was barred from attending school, he became a crusader to end the stigmatization associated with HIV/AIDS. On this episode of History of the 90s host Kathy Kenzora looks back at the life and legacy of Ryan White.
Thanks to Ryan’s mother Jeanne White-Ginder who gave permission for use of the audio heard in this episode. It is available to listen to in its entirety here: Who Was Ryan White? | Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (hrsa.gov)
GUEST:
Nelson Price, author of The Quiet Hero: A Life of Ryan White
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey there, it's Kathy. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to History of the 90s |
| 0:04.7 | early and ad-free on Amazon music included with Prime. |
| 0:11.4 | On a cold April day in 1990, rain turned into sleet and then snow as hundreds of mourners |
| 0:19.3 | huddled outside a church in Indiana. |
| 0:22.0 | They were listening on portable radios to the service taking place inside. |
| 0:27.4 | A bitter wind snapped umbrellas inside out, but it couldn't drown out the sound of dozens of voices |
| 0:33.8 | joined in a chorus of Amazing Grace, led by Elton John. |
| 0:39.0 | Inside the church, entertainers and professional athletes were gathered to pay their final |
| 0:44.0 | respects at a moving funeral service. |
| 0:47.2 | When it was over, they joined a procession of 100 cars, led by 20 police officers on |
| 0:52.8 | motorcycles, as it made its way along rural |
| 0:55.6 | county roads to a cemetery. This funeral could have been for a Hollywood star, or a music legend, |
| 1:03.1 | but it wasn't. It was for an 18-year-old boy who had become a symbol of tolerance and understanding |
| 1:09.8 | during his fight to be treated like a normal teenager. |
| 1:14.5 | I'm Kathy Kinsora, and this is History of the 90s, a podcast about a decade that changed the world. |
| 1:21.7 | On this episode, we go back to the 80s to understand how one teen's legacy helped shape HIV-AIDS advocacy in the decade to come. |
| 1:31.3 | Today we honor the amazing life of Ryan White. |
| 1:38.6 | During the very early days of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, |
| 1:43.3 | the North American blood supply became contaminated |
| 1:46.5 | with HIV from infected donors. You see, at first it was unclear that the virus was spread |
| 1:53.1 | through bodily fluids, so donors at clinics weren't screened and their blood donations weren't |
| 1:58.8 | tested. And even when there was mounting evidence that |
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