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Sheldon Herman Ramsdell c. 1935 - c. 1996

Sheldon Herman Ramsdell of San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA was born on August 31, 1935 in Wells Town, York County, ME to Velma Louise (Traves) Ramsdell and Herman Clifford Ramsdell. He had siblings Shirley Ann Suglia, Donald A. Ramsdell, and Glenn C. Ramsdell. Sheldon Ramsdell died at age 60 years old on March 25, 1996 in San Francisco, San Francisco County, California United States.

Sheldon Herman Ramsdell

San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA 94110

August 31, 1935

Wells Town, York County, ME

March 25, 1996

San Francisco, San Francisco County, California, United States

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Sheldon Herman Ramsdell Sheldon Ramsdell (1935 - 1996)

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Sheldon Herman Ramsdell's History: circa 1935 - circa 1996

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Introduction

I met Sheldon "Shelly" Herman Ramsdell and his closest friend and political activist John Belskus in early 1989 when they came together and visited me at my apartment in San Francisco during a hunger strike I was on for state and federal laws protecting gays and those with HIV from discrimination. I moved back to Salt Lake City after my hunger strike in July 1989. John Belskus died the following year in 1990, but I remained friends with Sheldon until he died and visited him several times on trips to San Francisco, including one where he was in the hospital. I gave him a "Popeye" doll I bought at the hospital gift shop because it reminded me of him, even looked like him, and it was our personal joke that I would call him "Popeye" afterward. He was a great & valiant person, but much of what he did was unknown to me until after he died. This included the extent of his involvement in the VVAW; he co-founded that organization and worked closely with, among others, now US State Department Secretary and former US Senator John Kerry. I know he was photographer in the Vietnam War before co-founding VVAW, I assume with the US Army. And his later activism for gay people and those with HIV & AIDS, even when diagnosed with AIDS himself, was awe inspiring.
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08/31

1935

Birthday

August 31, 1935

Birthdate

Wells Town, York County, ME

Birthplace

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Ethnicity & Family History

Caucasian
Nationality & Locations

USA
Professional Career

photojournalist, publicist & political activist who co-founded Vietnam Veterans Against the War in the 1960s
03/25

1996

Death

March 25, 1996

Death date

AIDS

Cause of death

San Francisco, San Francisco County, California United States
Death location

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Obituary

Fallen Comrades: Shelly Ramsdell Sheldon (Shelly) Ramsdell August 31, 1935 - March 25, 1996 Bay Area Reporter,April 4, 1996 [[
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By Mary Ann Swissler Photojournalist and political activist Sheldon Ramsdell died at his home on Monday, March 25th after a lengthy battle with AIDS. He was 60. After being honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1958, Shelly Ramsdell dedicated much of the rest of his life to his twin loves, photography and politics. An inveterate letter writer who expressed his opinion on issues ranging from Gay/Lesbian rights to NAFTA, Shelly Ramsdell always backed up his rhetoric with active participation. In 1967, he co-founded Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), the influential group that went on to galvanize our seriously flagging antiwar movement. In 1971, VVAW staged a highly publicized one week encampment on the Washington Mall. It was during this series of actions, dubbed Operation Dewey Canyon III, that the assembled vets tossed their medals over the fence onto the Capitol steps in one of the most visibly dramatic moments of our domestic struggle to end the war in Vietnam. Shelly Ramsdell was there with his camera. He was VVAW's press aide until 1974. During this period, he was also the chief press aide for U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy's 1968 presidential campaign, an aide for New York Congresswoman Bella Abzug, and a photographer for Norman Mailer's unsuccessful 1969 bid to become Mayor of New York. After moving to San Francisco in 1984, he was active in local political groups, particularly focusing on issues affecting people with AIDS. In 1990, he was a delegate to the Sixth International Conference on AIDS, and was part of the San Francisco ACT-UP contingent sent to both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions in 1992. While at the Republican Convention in Houston, he donned his sports coat and crashed several private Republican Party events to talk to his old media cronies and lobby Republicans on behalf of PWAs. Col. Cliff Anchor, Commander of the Alexander Hamilton Post of the American Legion, credits Shelly Ramsdell with having decorated J. Edgar Hoover's grave with pink triangles and lingerie during the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian/Gay Rights. A self-taught photographer, his photographic interests ranged from the political arena to Broadway and beyond. He took Barbra Streisand's first publicity photos, photographed Helena Rubenstein, Joel Gray (in Cabaret makeup), Abbie Hoffman, Broadway producer Fred Ebb (Cabaret and Kiss of the Spider Woman), Bette Midler and William S. Burroughs, among many others. His photographs have been exhibited at the New York Public Theater and on NBC TV's Today Show. They were published in the New York Times, Esquire, Time, Playboy, Chicago Tribune, Interior Design, Key West Arts Review, AP, and UPI. Friends will be arranging a posthumous show of his photos, including his photos of J. Edgar Hoover's "decorated" gravesite. He is survived by his parents, Herman and Louise Ramsdell of Olgonquit, Maine; a sister, Shirley Suglia, of Shelton, Connecticut; brothers Donald Ramsdell of Naples, Florida and Glenn Ramsdell of Wells, Maine; nieces, nephews, and legions of friends. Tax-deductible contributions may be made in Shelly's name to The Restitution Project, 584 Castro Street #514, San Francisco CA 94114, a new organization dedicated to acknowledging the contribution of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender veterans and service members.

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