The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt originated in 1985 when gay rights activist, Cleve Jones, led a protest using placards with the names of those who had died from AIDS. He noticed that the arrangement of placards on the wall looked like a quilt. This visual congruity sparked the idea that grew into the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Thousands from all over the United States created textile panels to honor the deaths of friends, lovers, and relatives. To date, the quilt commemorates 94,000 people and weighs approximately 54 tons. It continues to grow. National Institutes of Health, Wikimedia Creative Commons 4.0