PEEL, JESSE R.
Jesse R. Peel papers, 1956-2013

Restrictions on Access

Collection stored off-site. Researchers must contact the Rose Library in advance to access this collection.

Access to processed born digital materials is only available in the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (the Rose Library). Use of the original digital media is restricted.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

Source

Gift, 2012 with subsequent additions.

Citation

[after identification of item(s)], Jesse R. Peel papers, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.

Processing

Processed by Laura Starratt, Will Love, and Michael Camp, October 2013.

Born digital materials processed by Katherine Fisher, March 2022. Born digital materials include files taken from one compact disc. A forensic disk image was created using Guymager. Individual files were extracted using FTK Imager and scanned for viruses using ClamAV anti-virus software; none were found. Access copies retain original formats and file names. File dates may have been changed from their original creation dates.

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Biographical Note

Jesse R. Peel (1940-) is an HIV positive Atlanta, Georgia, psychiatrist and activist in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community. He was born in Everetts, North Carolina, to J. Woolard (1914-1984) and Helen Peel (1916-2005). He completed his undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, graduating from medical school in 1965, completed his internship from 1965-66, and did his residency in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, in 1966-69. Peel served in the United States Navy Medical Corps as a lieutenant and did tours in Vietnam (1969-1970) and Okinawa, Japan (1969-1970). He moved to Atlanta in 1976 and was a founding member in AIDS groups such as AID Atlanta and Positive Impact. He also worked with the Lesbian and Gay Funding Initiative, Metropolitan Atlanta Community Foundation AIDS Fund, the Georgia Task Force on AIDS, and the AIDS Legacy project among other groups working to help those affected with the disease.

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of the personal papers of Dr. Jesse R. Peel from 1956-2013, including correspondence; journals and appointment books; galley proofs of his memoir, Camp Merton Chronicles; subject files; photographs and albums; scrapbooks; and audiovisual material. The journals, appointment books, and photograph albums in the collection are the basis of his autobiography, Camp Merton Chronicles and included are folders of inserts, materials that were used as visuals in the work. The subject files primarily focus on Peel's work in the Atlanta LGBTQ community and his work with a number of AIDS organizations including the Atlanta Buyers Club Foundation, the AIDS Legacy Project, and his work on John Howell Park, a public park in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood. Scrapbooks and correspondence primarily document his time in school from elementary through medical residency. Audiovisual material includes recorded letters Peel sent to his parents during his deployment to Vietnam in the 1960s, as well as video recordings of Peel's speeches and his Leon Allen and Winston Johnson Community Leadership Award acceptance from the Human Rights Campaign.

Arrangement Note

Arranged by record type.