ARCADIA, Ind. (AP) — Teenage AIDS patient Ryan White is being remembered for his fight against discrimination with a historical marker outside the central Indiana high school that welcomed him as a student.
White was prevented from attending school near Kokomo after he contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion for hemophilia when he was 13 years old. He became a prominent figure for AIDS awareness and in 1987 began attending Hamilton Heights High School in Arcadia.
The Indiana Historical Bureau marker will be dedicated during an Aug. 30 ceremony at what is now Hamilton Heights Middle School. Free tickets are required to attend the program.
The marker highlights White’s advocacy for education about AIDS during a time of fear and misunderstanding of the disease. White died in 1990 at age 18.
