8.8. HIVNET/AEGIS Gateway. What is the history of AEGIS?
Description
This article is from the AIDS FAQ, by Dan Greening with numerous contributions by others.
8.8. HIVNET/AEGIS Gateway. What is the history of AEGIS?
AEGIS is a classic grassroots success story. In the mid-1980s,
Orange County resident Jamie Jemison saw the potential of an
online bulletin board service devoted to HIV/AIDS. The BBS he
called AEGIS, however, was ahead of its time. The cost and
limitations of computers and modems at that time for both a BBS
and individuals were substantial barriers to their use. AEGIS
remained a dream until he and Sister Mary Elizabeth connected in
mid-1991.
In 1990, she had launched the "HIV/AIDS Info BBS", motivated by a
stay in a small Midwest farm community where she met several
persons living with AIDS. They were profoundly isolated by
illness, small town fears, and geography. In their need, she saw
a way to put her technical skills to a spiritual use.
Sr. Mary Elizabeth suggested joining forces with Mr. Jemison.
However, he had gone on to other pursuits and ceded the use of
the name AEGIS to Mary Elizabeth. Ever since, she has made AEGIS
her life's work, building AEGIS into a service the Centers for
Disease Control calls "the best of its kind."
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