A Conversation with Dr. Jesse Peel

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. To learn more about his papers, which are collected at Rose Library, click here.