Join us for a special lecture by award-winning author Keith Wailoo, centered on his book Pushing Cool: Big Tobacco, Racial Marketing, and the Untold Story of the Menthol Cigarette.
Wailoo traces the story of how cigarette companies crafted the appeal of menthol cigarettes—first by tapping into Americans’ rising health and cancer anxieties from the 1920s through the 1950s, and later by deliberately cultivating Black consumers in urban markets in the 1960s. He reveals how the industry built, protected, and fiercely defended these markets for decades, even as public health concerns mounted and regulatory pressures grew. The talk explores the unexpected alliances, critics, and political battles that shaped this contentious history of tobacco, race, health, and American business.
Jointly sponsored by the Southern California Society for the History of Medicine, this program takes inspiration from the Johnson Publishing Company Archives and photographs in the Getty Research Institute’s special collections.
The talk will be followed by a public reception from 7:30–8:30pm.
The conversation will be available on the Getty Research Institute YouTube channel following the event.
