Collection Details:

Collection Name and Number: Marni von Wilpert Papers (Z/2417). 
Creator/Collector: Marni von Wilpert; Mississippi Center for Justice; and others.
Date(s): 2011-2013.
Size: 0.33 cubic feet.
Language(s): English.
Processed by: MDAH staff, Laura Heller, 2024.
Provenance: Gift of Marni von Wilpert of San Diego, California, on October 14, 2024; Z/U/2024.047.
Repository: Archives & Records Services Division, Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Rights and Access:

Access restrictions: Collection is open for research.

Publication rights: Copyright assigned to the MDAH. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to Reference Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the MDAH as the owner of the physical items and as the owner of the copyright in items created by the donor. Although the copyright was transferred by the donor, the respective creator may still hold copyright in some items in the collection. For further information, contact Reference Services.

Copyright notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).

Preferred citation: Marni von Wilpert Papers (Z/2417), Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Biography/History:

Marni von Wilpert

Marni von Wilpert is from San Diego, California. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in peace and conflict studies from the University of California, Berkeley. She then earned a Juris Doctor from the Fordham University School of Law. Between undergraduate and law school, von Wilpert served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Botswana during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa.

In 2011, Marni von Wilpert was awarded a Skadden Fellowship to work at the Mississippi Center for Justice from 2011 until 2013. During the fellowship, she established Mississippi’s first medical-legal partnership, a collaboration with the University of Mississippi Medical Center to provide free legal representation for people living with HIV/AIDS who faced discrimination in housing, employment, and access to medical care. Numerous opportunities for meetings, trainings, and support groups were arranged to combat anti-LGBTQ, racial and gender discrimination in Mississippi.

From 2013 to 2014, von Wilpert served as a law clerk for James E. Graves, Jr., on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She worked as an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board. She also worked as a staffer on the United States House Committee on Education and Labor and served as an advisor to committee chair Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott’s of Virginia. She he wrote federal legislation to strengthen workers’ rights, wages and safety on the job. In 2017, von Wilpert joined the Economic Policy Institute as Associate Labor Counsel. She served as Deputy City Attorney in the San Diego City Attorney's Office from 2018 to 2020. Additionally, von Wilpert was Chair of the Teen Health Mississippi Advisory Board in 2018, and she continues to serve on this board as well as the board of San Diego Youth Services.

After a successful campaign and race for District 5 of the San Diego city council, von Wilpert won in the November general election. She assumed office on December 10, 2020. Also, that December she was appointed to serve on the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority board of directors. She ran unopposed for re-election in the 2024 San Diego City Council election, winning the election outright in the primary on March 5, 2024.

 

Mississippi Center for Justice

The Mississippi Center for Justice opened its doors in 2003 as a nonprofit, public interest law firm committed to advancing racial and economic justice. Supported and staffed by attorneys and other professionals, the Center develops and pursues strategies to combat discrimination and poverty statewide for African-Americans and lower-income Mississippians. The Center promotes educational opportunities, protects consumer rights, secures access to healthcare, and advocates for affordable housing for all Mississippians. The Center’s main office is located in Jackson, Mississippi, with satellite offices in the Delta in Indianola and the Gulf Coast in Biloxi.

 

Scope and Content Note:

The Marni von Wilpert Papers contains meeting agendas, letters, photographs, newspaper clippings, and flyers concerning educational information, training, and resources for the prevention of HIV/AIDS in Mississippi. A central focus was the forming of a medical-legal partnership with the Mississippi Center for Justice and the University of Mississippi Medical Center to provide free legal representation for people living with HIV/AIDS who faced discrimination in housing, employment, and access to medical care.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Attendee List, HIV/AIDS Strategic Litigation/Access to Justice Convening, 2011. 
The item in this series is an attendee list from the Ford Foundation sponsored HIV/AIDS Strategic Litigation/Access to Justice Convening on April 27, 2011. Attendees are listed with contact information and short biographies. The initiative targeted the District of Columbia and nine states in the South (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee) that ranked among the highest in new AIDS cases. It also supported efforts to address the spread of HIV among African Americans, women, lesbians, gay and bisexual men, and Latinos. The effort built upon investments made by Ford Foundation to address the impact of HIV in these communities and to fight the discrimination that allowed the epidemic to spread.

Box 1, folder 1

 

Series 2: Meeting Agendas, 2011-2012. 
This series contains eight meeting agendas which outline the purpose of the meeting, key speakers or topics of the meeting, date and location of the meeting, and organizations involved. Meetings are primarily part of the Mississippi AIDS Justic Project and provide educational resources and training to the public. Locations included the Jackson Medical Mall, the Mississippi Department of Health, and My Brother’s Keeper Wellness Center. Included is a flyer with an agenda included for “Free Legal Service Training” on World AIDS Day at the Indianola Promise Community Building, in Indianola, MS, on December 1, 2012.

Box 1, folders 2-9

 

Series 3: Correspondence, 2012-2013. 
The correspondence series consists of two letters received by Marni von Wilpert. The first letter is from Caroline Haas, President of OUTLaw, a University of Mississippi student organization providing a safe space for members and allies and a forum for discussion on topics relating to and affecting LGBTQ+ individuals. Haas invites von Wilpert to speak on the topic of HIV/AIDS in Mississippi at the third annual LGBT Legal Symposium at the University of Mississippi School of Law, on March 22, 2013, in Oxford. The second letter is from Kawanis L. Collins, Program Coordinator at the Magnolia Medical Clinic in Greenwood. Collins expresses gratitude to von Wilpert for participating in their National HIV Testing Day even on June 27, 2013, at the Magnolia Medical Clinic and Greenwood Leflore Hospital.

Box 1, folders 10-11

 

Series 4: Poverty and Access to Justice Symposium, 2013. 
Supra and the Mississippi Law Journal advertised the Poverty and Access to Justice Symposium, which was sponsored by the Pro Bono Initiative. The Symposium took place on Friday, February 8, 2013, at the University of Mississippi School of Law’s Robert C. Khayat Law Center. At the Symposium, state supreme court justices, appellate and trial judges, scholars, and practitioners examined barriers to the justice system, creative legal service delivery methods, and specific programs that proved effective. This series contains one black-and-white photocopy of a flyer advertising about the symposium, including listing Marni von Wilpert as a panelist.

Box 1, folder 12

 

Series 5: National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, 2014. 
This program is for the “National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day: AIDS is a Civil Rights Issue” held at the Bennie G. Thompson Center at Tougaloo College in Madison, Mississippi, on February 7, 2014. It included notables such as honorary guest speaker Reverend Al Sharpton, Activist and Humanitarian Hydeia Broadbent, and Mississippi politicians such as Jackson mayor Chokwe Lumumba, Jackson City Councilmember Tony Yarber, and several pastors of local churches.

Box 1, folder 13

 

Series 6: Certificate of Appreciation, 2013. 
This Certificate of Appreciation was awarded to Marni von Wilpert for her commitment and dedication in HIV prevention and awareness in the Mississippi Delta. It is signed by a community representative and dated March 23, 2013. The certificate features a pair of red pumps and says “Rock the Red,” indicating this certificate is part of the Red Pump Project campaign, a movement to create and encourage dialogue about HIV/AIDS and raise the awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS on minority girls and women, particularly African-American and Latina women who accounted for more than 80 percent of new AIDS cases in the United States.

Box 1, folder 14

 

Series 7: Photographic Prints, 2013-2014. 
This series consists of two color photographic 8x10 prints. One print is of Marni von Wilpert standing beside a posterboard stating “HIV and Housing Law” at Jackson Medical Mall in 2013. The second print Features three people standing on a stage and signs for the Mississippi Center for Justice and the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Marni von Wilpert is standing behind the podium and speaking to an audience. The caption on the back states “Announcement of HIV/AIDS Medical-Legal Partnership, 2014.”

Box 1, folders 15-16

 

Series 8: Newsclippings, 2011-2013. 
This series includes newspaper articles that report on the activities of the Mississippi Center for Justice’s “Mississippi AIDS Justic Project” events and programs. Articles may also report on HIV/AIDS news reports and educational information. The December 1-7, 2011 issue of The Mississippi Link contains eight articles about HIV/AIDS, including articles on the front page and a “World AIDS Day” announcement. The Delta Democrat Times published an editorial piece by Marnni von Wilpert titled “Dialogue Needed to Quell HIV Fears” in the June 27, 2012 issue. Lastly, the article “Partnership to aid persons with HIV/AIDS” was published in The Clarion-Ledger on May 10, 2013, announcing the HIV/AIDS Medical-Legal Partnership between the Mississippi Center for Justice and the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Box 1, folders 17-19

 

Series 9: Brochures, circa 2012. 
This series consists of three brochures produced and published by the Mississippi Center for Justice providing information concerning employment, housing, and privacy rights for persons living with HIV/AIDS in Mississippi. Brochures were created with support by the Southern REACH initiative of AIDS United and the Ford Foundation.

Box 1, folders 20-22

 

Series 10: DVD, “Opening Doors to Opportunity in the Mississippi Delta,” 2012. 
This DVD contains a video titled “Opening Doors to Opportunity in the Mississippi Delta” that was produced by the Mississippi Center for Justice to share about the organization’s work in the Mississippi Delta, and across the state, to strengthen access to education and healthcare for Mississippians. Among others, Marni von Wilpert speaks in the last segment titled “Opening Doors for People Living with HIV/AIDS.” She cites statistics and explains the largest obstacles. Marni states, “So at the end of the day you have HIV, racism, homophobia, and fear, and that’s the perfect storm that creates such a huge civil rights issue in this context.” Marni explains the partnership between Mississippi Center for Justice and the University of Mississippi Medical Center: “The Medical-Legal Partnership is a model that puts an attorney onsite at the doctor’s office to make sure that doctors and lawyers can work together to provide comprehensive health-related services to patients.” Lastly, von Wilpert says in the video: “If we can open the door to better medical care in Mississippi, that will save the lives of thousands of people.”

The video can be found on the Mississippi Center for Justice’s YouTube page. This DVD has a playback problem where the video and audio are not synced.

Box 1, folder 23.

 
Box List

Box 1: 
Folder 1: Attendee List, HIV/AIDS Strategic Litigation/Access to Justice Convening, Ford Foundation, April 27, 2011. 
Folder 2: Meeting Agenda, Mississippi AIDS Justice Project, Old Capitol Inn, Jackson, MS, November 17, 2011. 
Folder 3: Meeting Agenda, “Human Rights and HIV Policy Training,” Mississippi AIDS Justice Project, Cabot Lodge Millsaps, Jackson, MS, February 29, 2012. 
Folder 4: Meeting Agenda, “Educational Support Group,” Jackson Medical Mall, Jackson, MS, May 21, 2012. 
Folder 5: Meeting Agenda, “Mississippi Community Planning Group for HIV Prevention Meeting,” MS Department of Health, Jackson, MS, June 15, 2012. 
Folder 6: Meeting Agenda, “Mississippi HIV/AIDS Care and Services Planning Council Meeting,” MS Department of Health, Jackson, MS, August 3, 2012. 
Folder 7: Meeting Agenda, “T.R.U.S.T. Project, Healthy Relationship Reunion,” My Brother’s Keeper Wellness Center, Jackson, MS, August 14, 2012. 
Folder 8: Meeting Agenda, Mississippi AIDS Justic Project, Jackson Medical Mall, Jackson, MS, November 29, 2012. 
Folder 9: Flyer and Agenda, “Free Legal Service Training, World AIDS Day,” Indianola Promise Community Building, Indianola, MS, December 1, 2012. 
Folder 10: Letter, Caroline Haas to Marni von Wilpert, November 1, 2012. 
Folder 11: Letter, Kawanis L. Collins to Marni von Wilpert, June 28, 2013. 
Folder 12: Flyer, Poverty and Access to Justice Symposium, University of Mississippi School of Law, Oxford, MS, February 8, [2013]. 
Folder 13: Program, “National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day,” Tougaloo College, Madison, MS, February 7, 2014. 
Folder 14: Certificate of Appreciation, Marni von Wilpert, for Dedication in HIV Prevention and Awareness in the MS Delta, March 23, 2013. 
Folder 15: Photographic Print, “Marni von Wilpert at Jackson Medical Mall, 2013.” 
Folder 16: Photographic Print, “Announcement of HIV/AIDS Medical-Legal Partnership, 2014.” [Marni von Wilpert at podium]. 
Folder 17: Newspaper, The Mississippi Link, December 1-7, 2011. [Entire issue included; Contains 8 articles about HIV/AIDS related news in Mississippi.] 
Folder 18: Newsclipping, “Dialogue needed to quell HIV fears” by Marni von Wilpert, Delta Democrat Times, June 27, 2012. 
Folder 19: Newsclipping, “Partnership to aid persons with HIV/AIDS,” The Clarion-Ledger, May 10, 2013. 
Folder 20: Employment Rights for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS, Mississippi Center for Justice, [circa 2012].
Folder 21: Housing Rights for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS, Mississippi Center for Justice, [circa 2012]. 
Folder 22: Privacy Rights for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS, Mississippi Center for Justice, [circa 2012]. 
Folder 23: DVD, Mississippi Center for Justice, 2012.