Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society
College of Community Health Sciences | University of Alabama
College of Community Health Sciences | University of Alabama
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The Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society was established at the University of Alabama in 1998 when its director, Dr. Alan Blum was appointed to the endowed chair in the College of Community Health Sciences. It is an outgrowth of the tobacco archive which Dr. Blum established in the 1970’s to preserve the materials held and to serve as an international resource on tobacco issues.
The primary purpose of the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society is to explore, investigate, compare and contrast the historical and contemporary aspects of the tobacco issue and the role and influence of tobacco in society through an interdisciplinary approach that involves research, professional education, and community outreach.
The Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society draws from a multi-disciplinary advisory committee served by representatives from a variety of colleges at The University of Alabama and by a group of ad hoc advisors from throughout the world—distinguished individuals from the fields of history, law, anthropology, museum studies, publishing, library science, public health, and medicine.
In establishing the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society, The University of Alabama brought together this interdisciplinary team in order to better understand the dynamics and complexities of this important issue, and to serve as an international model for training, education, and research in this area.
The tobacco archive held by the Center is unique because it is the only socio-cultural resource which documents the tobacco issue from all vantage points, from public health and anti-smoking strategies to the social, agricultural, economic, and promotional aspects.
The archive’s collections include newspapers, magazines, business trade journals, annual reports, advertisements, point-of-sale displays, posters, signs, toys, video tapes, audio tapes, and more than 25,000 photographs and slides.
The archive also holds special collections, such as original press briefings donated by former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop covering efforts on tobacco problems during his tenure as Surgeon General from 1981-1989.
The Center for Tobacco And Society’s Sports and Tobacco Exhibitions
Corporate sponsorship of the arts was pioneered by Philip Morris as a means of diverting attention from the medical evidence of cigarette smoking’s devastating death toll…
Inspired by postmodern avant garde art, iconic ad campaigns to promote the brand Silk Cut sought to circumvent advertising regulations and made it the best-selling cigarette brand in the UK.
Looking for a great Father’s Day gift? How about giving Dad a carton of cigarettes?
The American Medical Association Rewrites Tobacco History…
How New York City became the Heart of the Tobacco Industry…and Anti-Smoking activism.
2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. This exhibition explores the important role tobacco played in the war, both in the battlefield trenches and on the home front. The seeds were also planted for a pandemic of smoking-caused diseases.
Tobacco has a long history in the movies, these ads showcase classic movie star spokespeople.
This exhibit highlights the connections and illustrates the history of tobacco’s relationship with minority communities…
An exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary of the landmark Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health released by Alabamian Dr. Luther Terry.
For decades pharmaceutical manufacturers have employed stereotypical images of the inveterate smoker in advertisements for prescription medications in medical journals…
Thanks to campaigns set to combat it, youth smoking has declined dramatically in recent decades. This exhibition traces the connections between children and cigarettes, aswell as efforts to protect youth from addicition and the devastating health consequences of smoking.
Anti-Smoking Stamps from Around the World & The Surgeon General’s Stamp Campaign
Smoking and weddings go together like a horse and carriage in these classic ads.
In the pantheon of ideas so crazy they HAVE to work, we can assume the All Tobacco Filter in Kentucky Kings Cigarettes is one of the crazy ideas that never worked…
Throughout the 20th century, the season of giving was not immune to the pervasive reach of tobacco companies…
A timeline tracking Doctors Ought to Care an organization dedicated to using humor to combat tobacco advertising.
As the 20th century came to a close in the 1980s and 1990s many cultural institutions came under scrutiny and outright ridicule. One of these cultural touchstones that became a punching bag for the potent pens of editorial cartoonists was smoking and big tobacco…
CSTS chronicles a few of the achievements and contributions of Rick Richards.
Like tobacco smoke, ultraviolet-emitting tanning devices are classified by the International Agency for Cancer Research as a Group 1 agent that can cause cancer…
Covering a wide range of tobacco related issues, these stories represent a personal piece of Dr. Blum’s legacy as not only a renowned anti-tobacco crusader, but also a vocal critic of the medical profession in its handling of the tobacco pandemic…
In 2019 the University of Alabama Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society marked its 20th anniversary, 2018-2019 has been the most fulfilling and productive in the Center’s history…
As the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society enters its 20th year at the University of Alabama, we are proud to report that 2017-2018 has been the most productive in the Center’s history…
Dr. Alan Blum is interviewed by WUVA-23 for a segment on smokeless tobacco.
Dr. Alan Blum’s January 2020 guest editorial in the Cancer Letter.
Dr. Alan Blum is interviewed by WUVA-23 for a segment on The Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society’s exhibition at the Bryant Museum
The Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society has moved to the Northeast Medical Building at the University of Alabama