Pride 2021: The Cemetery Angel

In 1984, a young man lay dying of a mysterious disease behind a sealed door in a hospital in Little Rock. No one understood the transmission or details of the disease that he had and most people feared even being in the same room as someone who had it. Then the door opened and a 24-year-old woman walked in. She wasn't a doctor or a nurse, not a researcher or a scientist. Her name was Ruth Coker Burks and this young man would be the first of thousands of AIDS patients that she cared for over the next several years.
This is the story of the more than 40 unclaimed gay men resting beneath Files Cemetery.
This is the story of the woman known as the Cemetery Angel.
This is the story of the AIDS crisis in Arkansas.
To hear more of this story, check out my podcast, Mapstronaut Bonus. Available on Spotify. open.spotify.c...
References:
Arkansas Department of Health. Epidemiology and Infectious Disease Branches. HIV Surveillance Report Arkansas, 2018. Accessed 1 June 2021.
healthy.arkans....
Arkansas Department of Health. Infectious Disease Branch, Center for Health Protection. Arkansas HIV/STI Integrated Epidemiologic Profile 2015. Accessed 1 June 2021.
www.healthy.ar....
Burnett, Elena. “Ruth Coker Burks: The Reason That I Believe in Angels.” The Folding Chair. 27 March 2018. Accessed 1 June 2021.
thefoldingchai....
Cocozza, Paula. “The AIDS Angel: How Ruth Coker Burks Comforted Dying Gay Men.” The Guardian (London, UK), 3 February 2021. Accessed 1 June 2021.
www.theguardia....
Cole, Helen. “AIDS.” Encyclopedia of Arkansas. 11 October 2020. Accessed 1 June 2020.
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Hickman, Alan F. “LGBTQ Movement.” Encyclopedia of Arkansas. 5 May 2021. Accessed 1 June 2021.
encyclopediaof....
Kincanon, Matthew. “Ruth Coker Burks Describes Her Lifetime Caring for AIDS Patients to the Gonzaga Community.” The Gonzaga Bulletin. 28 February 2017. Accessed 1 June 2021.
www.gonzagabul....
KLRT. ‘I Would Bury Them in Cookie Jars’. 15 November 2016. Accessed 1 June 2021. www.fox16.com/....
Koon, David. “Ruth Coker Burks, the Cemetery Angel.” Arkansas Times (Little Rock, AR), 8 January 2015. Accessed 1 June 2021.
arktimes.com/n....
Lewis, Sara A. “A Cemetery Angel: AIDS and End-of-Life Care in Arkansas.” Points South (podcast), 17 October 2019. Accessed 1 June 2021.
www.oxfordamer....
McCroy, Winnie. “Memorial Planned for Ruth Coker Burks, Who Cared for Early Victims of the AIDS Epidemic.” 26 March 2017. Edge Media Network. Accessed 1 June 2021.
www.edgemedian....
Pruden, William H., III. “Ruth Coker Burks (1959-).” Encyclopedia of Arkansas. 3 December 2020. Accessed 1 June 2021.
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Sweeney, Tanya. “Ruth Coker Burks: ‘I Had No Idea of the Hatred Towards Men Dying of AIDS’.” Irish Independent (Dublin, Ireland). 22 January 2021. Accessed 1 June 2021.
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[@MissRobbiOKC]

I lost a very good friend to AIDS. We had been friends for 20 years. It was devastating. His mother reacted as Jimmy's mother. Right before the end she changed her mind and came to be with him. He died in 1995. I pray for all who have been affected by AIDS. God bless Ruth for her work.
Thank you for telling this story!

[@MissRobbiOKC]

You're very welcome!

[@ryannamecat]

very informative about ruth's story : )

[@mapstronaut4552]

Glad you think so!