Since the earliest exploration and settlement of the New World, tobacco has played a significant role in world history. As a cash crop, tobacco has heaped fortunes among its manufacturers while yielding inconsequential gains to the hands that plant, cultivate, harvest and cure each leaf on every plant. To this day, tobacco remains a key market throughout the world, and as it was, even as early as the 16th Century, the cultivation and use of this plant are still besieged by controversy.

The following images and documents depict the enduring influence of tobacco in American society. They range from George Washington's writings to images of tobacco workers and their families. Several images, particularly those of tobacco labels, reveal campaigns to lure target markets into trying the product. Whether in field or factory, tobacco is recognized as one of the world's most labor intensive occupations. As you explore these resources consider such questions as:

• Why was tobacco a cash crop of preference among early Americans?
• How did tobacco workers and their families fare in their struggle to survive?
• Why might American views of tobacco vary so radically?

1. View: Daughters of tobacco farmer spearing tobacco leaves; Sept. 1939.
2. View: 2 posted pictures of group(s) of boys who work on Goodrich Tobacco Farm, near Gildersleeve, Conn; August 6, 1917.
3. View: Narcoti-cure Cures the tobacco habit in from 4 to 10 days; Price $5.00; Narcoti Chemical Co., [1895].
4. View: North Carolina tobacco farmer. Near Farrington, Chatham County; 1940 May.
5. View: African Americans, mostly women] assorting tobacco at the T.B. Williams Tobacco Co., Richmond, Virginia; 1899?
6. View: Barrels of perique tobacco during process of aging. Perique tobacco is raised in one parish in Louisiana…; September 1938.
7. View: General view of stripping and wrapping operations in the tobacco barn of Mr. Robert J. Hawthorne; 1940 Nov.
8. View: Mr. Fred Schoenleber. Has a thirty-six acre tobacco farm near Warehouse Point, Connecticut. A crew of thirty were being employed to harvest the crop; 1940 Sept.
9. View: Mr. Colson, tobacco farmer near Suffield, Connecticut, hanging tobacco to dry in his barn; 1940 Sept.
10. View: The brighter side of Hell. The anti-tobacco crank jumping through smoke rings; 1917?
11. View: Wife of tenant farmer, Mrs. Oakley, works stringing tobacco during the harvest season. Granville County, North Carolina; 1939 July.
12. View: Children of families living in a tobacco barn near Fayetteville, North Carolina. Fathers work at Fort Bragg; 1941 Mar.
13. View: Family living in the downstairs part of a tobacco barn. Father works at Fort Bragg; 1941.
14. View: Southerner rights segars; 1859.
15. View: The Pocohontas Chewing Tobacco; 1867.
16. View: Westward Ho! Tobacco; 1868.
17. View: James Moran & Co.'s Indian Girl Chewing Tobacco; 1874.
18. View: A full hand; 1890.
19. View: The Cigarette.
20. View: Woman holding cigarette, reclining beneath blossoming branches; 1934.
21. View: Black-meshed arms, diamond bracelet & ring, hands entwined holding cigarette; 1933.
22. View: Beer garden near camp is completely covered with beer and cigarette advertising signs; 1942 Aug.?
23. View: Advertisement for "Egyptian Deities" cigarettes, showing woman holding package of cigarettes; c. 1900.
24. View: Job; 1898.
25. View: Old Gold cigarette commercial dancers pose with their faces away from camera; 1955.
26. View: Life is so beautiful : stay alive : don't smoke cigarettes; between 1965 and 1980.
27. View: Tobacco Label Mule ear--Harris, Beebe & Cos., Quincy, Ill. / The Hatch Lith. Co., 32 & 34 Vesey St. N.Y.; c. 1868.
28. View: Tobacco Label: Pioneer tobacco. Kentucky; c. 1868.
29. View: Tobacco Label Black Hawk; 187?.
30. View: Tobacco Label Powhatan brand; c. 1860.
31. View: Tobacco Label A. Lincoln; c. 1860.
32. View: Tobacco Label R. E. Lee; c. 1865.
33. View: Tobacco Label Up in a balloon - Navy Tobacco; 1870.
34. View: Tobacco Label The first nine of the Red Stockings, manufactured from the best Havana tobacco by Henry Koop, 315 Central Avenue bet. 8th and 9th Str. Cincinnati, O.; 1869.
35. View: Tobacco Label - Gold Dust; c. 1867.
36. View: Tobacco Column.
37. View: Tobacco auction, Durham, North Carolina; 1939 Nov.
38. View: Taking tobacco into warehouse for auction, Durham, North Carolina; 1939.
39. View: Negro farmer talking with warehouse man about price he received at auction for his tobacco, Durham, North Carolina; 1939.

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1. Read: Thomas Hariot, A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia; 1588.
2. Read: George Washington to Arthur Young, June 18, 1792, Farming; June 18, 1792.
3. Read: Tobacco History Week proclamation; 1989.
4. Read: 1964 Surgeon General Report: Reducing the Health Consequences of Smoking; 1964.
5. Read: History of the 1964 Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health; January 1994 and July 1996.
6. Read: A Bill Repealing all acts imposing taxes upon tobacco; December 16, 1872.
7. Read: Life History Title: Tom Bird; February 10, 1939.
8. Read: Barning Tobacco; August 15, 1939.
9. Read: On the Radio; November 8, 1938.
10. Read: No Place Like Home; December 8, 1938.

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