Contact Info
Archive, Manuscript & Rare Book collections are accessed in Olin Library at the Special Collections reading room.
HOURS: Monday - Friday 9:00-5:00 by appointment
LOCATION: Olin Library, 1st floor, Danforth Campus
REQUESTS / APPOINTMENTS: 314-935-5495 spec@wumail.wustl.edu
*collections stored offsite require advance notice for retrieval and use
Questions about a specific topic? Contact:
University Archives: Sonya Rooney
Rare Books: Cassie Brand
Manuscript: Joel Minor
Local History: Miranda Rectenwald
Modern Graphic History Library: Skye Lacerte
Film & Media Archive: Andy Uhrich
Smoking on campus
Olin Library, 1964
Tobacco & Culture in University Archives
This guide is an overview of resources about the history & culture of tobacco products. Yearbooks and other campus publications were heavily sponsored by cigarette, pipe, and tobacco ads. Images and documents about smoking as part of the campus / student culture are also available.
Collections from University Archives
- WU Yearbooks (list of years published)The 1934-35 yearbook especially included several full-page color cigarette ads. Also "smoker" social events are listed in various early yearbooks (pre-1930s)
- Student Handbooks (list of years available)Guides about campus, sometimes called "the Freshman Bible," and print-editions of "Bearings" include rules for students about smoking, and how those rules differed for men and women.
- Other Student Publications (list of titles and years)See especially:
"The Dirge" - a campus humor magazine published from 1919 - 1934 included many tobacco ads, and some jokes about smoking / tobacco use and "Eliot" - a general interest campus magazine published from 1939 - 1947 included many tobacco ads, including many in full color - Student Life Newspapers (see below for more information)included large cigarette ads through the 1950s
Student Life Newspaper
Note: No index exists for student newspapers. Options to access the issues include:
- At Olin Library (microfilm): 1878 - 1986* Advanced microfilm machines (level B downstairs)
* Can save pages as pdf files (bring a flash drive).
*Available anytime Olin Library is open. - At Special Collections (microfilm) 1988 - 2001* Request microfilm at Special Collections, Olin Library Level 1
* Can save pages as pdf files (bring a flash drive). - Request for use at Special Collections: 1878 - present* Original, hard copy issues available for special use only
*Request issues for use in reading room at Special Collections
School of Medicine - Becker Archives
A smoking machine used by Dr. Evarts Graham, of the WU School of Medicine, to test cancer risks in mice.
(Cover image from 1954 Alumni Bulletin)
- Dr Evarts A. Graham's papers are archived at the School of MedicineThis archival collection is located at the Bernard Becker Library, 7th floor, School of Medicine campus. Contact the Becker Archive to learn more.
Books on Advertising
Read more about the cultural history of advertising, all available at Olin Library.
Soap, Sex, and Cigarettes by Call Number: HF5813 U6 S55 1997ISBN: 0534515932Publication Date: 1997-03-20
Advertising in the Age of Persuasion by Call Number: HF5415.1255 .S67 2011ISBN: 0230116949Publication Date: 2011-10-15
Advertising the American Dream by Call Number: HF5813 U6 M26 1985 c.2ISBN: 0520058852Publication Date: 1986-09-18
Advertising and the Transformation of American Society, 1865-1920 by Call Number: HF5813 U6 N67 1990ISBN: 0313268010Publication Date: 1990-10-24
Those Were the Good Old Days: A Happy Look at American Advertising, 1880-1930. by Call Number: HF5813 U6 J6ISBN: B0006AW5C0Publication Date: 1959
Advertising to the American Woman, 1900-1999 by Call Number: HF5813.U6 H55 2002ISBN: 0814208908Publication Date: 2002-02-01
A Century of American Icons by Call Number: HF6161.B4 C46 2002ISBN: 031336124XPublication Date: 2002-10-01
