The idea for the NAMES Project Memorial Quilt was conceived in 1985 by AIDS activist Cleve Jones during the candlelight march , in remembrance of the 1978 assassinations of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone . For the march , Jones had people write the names of loved ones that were lost to AIDS-related causes on signs , and then they taped the signs to the old San Francisco Federal Building . All the signs taped to the building looked like an enormous patchwork quilt to Jones , and he was inspired . It officially started in 1987 in San Francisco by Jones , Mike Smith , and volunteers Joseph Durant , Jack Caster , Gert McMullin , Ron Cordova , Larkin Mayo and Gary Yuschalk . At that time many people who died of AIDS-related causes did not receive funerals , due to both the social stigma of AIDS felt by surviving family members and the outright refusal by many funeral homes and cemeteries to handle the deceased 's remains . Lacking a memorial service or grave site , The Quilt was often the only opportunity survivors had to remember and celebrate their loved ones ' lives . The first showing of The Quilt was 1987 on the National Mall in Washington , DC . The Quilt was last displayed in full on the Mall in Washington , D.C. , in 1996 , a display that included a visit by President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton , but it returned in July 2012 to coincide with the start of the XIX International AIDS Conference , 2012
1978 assassinations
Moscone–Milk assassinations
NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt