QUEER TECH HISTORY / SISTER MARY ELIZABETH CLARK
Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark is best known for building the most accessible and wide-reaching AIDS information network through bulletin board systems (BBS).
Sister Mary Elizabeth utilized technology and the internet to distribute nonjudgmental AIDS education when relatively little was known about the disease. She took over the failing BBS site, AIDS Education Global Information Service (AEGIS), in 1990.
Through her work, the site saw an increase in traffic, with nearly 300 visitors per hour during its peak and 25 million hits per month by 1999. The board was run entirely by Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark, who worked eighteen hours daily to keep the site updated with medical studies, journal articles, and other educational material. Through this work, she was able to help countless HIV patients and doctors.
References & Resources
How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex: An Unexpected History
