Peter Medoff, at 37, community organizer

Peter Medoff of Mission Hill, a community organizer and urban planner, died of complications from AIDS Monday at home. He was 37.

Born in Boston and raised in Newton, he received his bachelor of arts degree from Columbia University in 1980 and his master's degree in urban planning in 1982.

During his college years in New York City, Mr. Medoff became involved in tenant organizing work and other progressive political activities. After completing his studies he moved to Hartford, Conn., where he helped create The Citizens' Research Education Network.

In 1985, Mr. Medoff moved to Boston, where he continued his community development work as the first executive director of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative. Recently, the city of Boston and the DSNI Board of Directors honored Mr. Medoff by officially naming a street in the Dudley neighborhood Medoff's Way. Mr. Medoff was the co-author of the recently published book, 'Streets of Hope The Fall and Rise of an Urban Neighborhood,' which chronicles the unique brand of community organizing, planning and development created by the DSNI. In recent years Mr. Medoff worked as a consultant, offering technical assistance in community-based organizing, planning and development to groups in many cities, including Houston, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver and Boston.

For several years, he served on the board of directors of the Haymarket People's Fund.

Mr. Medoff recently received official proclamations from Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and from Hartford Mayor Michael Peters for his contributions to each of those cities. Mr. Medoff worked professionally and as a volunteer on behalf of persons with AIDS since 1989. He served as the housing resource developer for the AIDS Action Committee during 1989 and 1990. He completed the first housing needs analysis on AIDS for the commonwealth. He was a founding member and the first president of -- the AIDS Housing Corp.

He is survived by his parents, Jeanne and Ben Medoff of Newton; two brothers, Roger of Newton and Gary of Cambridge; a niece; and his foster son.

(Boston Herald, April 23, 1994 Saturday THIRD EDITION)

Return to Columbia AIDS Memorial List