KOKOMO, Ind. (AP): Late teenage AIDS victim Ryan White is now a pillar of the community where he once was an outcast.

The Howard County Historical Society inducted White into its Hall of Legends on Friday evening.

White lived in Kokomo when he was diagnosed with AIDS in 1984 and started his legal battle to attend classes at Western Middle School in nearby Russiaville (ROO'-shuh-vil). He prevailed in the courts, but his family moved a short time later to the town of Cicero two counties away. He died in 1990.

The Kokomo Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/1lNgUdY ) his mother, Jeanne White-Ginder, received a standing ovation from the crowd at the induction ceremony. She said her son was a fierce but gentle advocate for fostering understanding of a disease that was frightfully misunderstood in the 1980s.