Fred Panzer papers, 1950-2001 and undated.
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Summary
- Creator:
- History of Medicine Collection (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library), Panzer, Fred, and Tobacco Institute (Washington, D.C.)
- Abstract:
- Fred Panzer was Vice President of the Tobacco Institute from 1971 to 1980. The Tobacco Institute was founded in 1958 by twelve U.S. tobacco companies, whose interests it represented. This collection contains materials from Fred Panzer's career at the Tobacco Institute from 1950 to 1981. Collection also includes materials from 1983 to 2001. Acquired as part of the History of Medicine Collection.
- Extent:
- 5 Linear Feet
- Language:
- Materials in English.
- Collection ID:
- RL.13030
Background
- Scope and content:
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This collection contains materials from Fred Panzer's career at the Tobacco Institute from 1950 to 1981. This includes chronological files of correspondence, memorandums, studies, reports, financial and taxes reports, publications and research related to smoking, smoking cessation, and legislation impacting the tobacco industry. Correspondence mostly consists of letters from Panzer to editors of medical journals, authors of scientific articles, senators, congressmen, and the White House. Panzer wrote to these authors and personalities to argue against the evidence shown by research on the relationship between smoking and health issues, particularly cancer. The memoranda mostly consist of copies of articles in scientific and non-scientific publications addressing the relationship between smoking and health issues, as well as reports and materials related to events organized by the Tobacco Institute and reports that address economic issues such as taxes and cigarette prices. The research consists of copies of scientific articles and other materials addressing the relationship between smoking and health. The research also consists of copies of transcripts of television interviews with Dr. Mitchell Zavon, who defended the addictive character of tobacco, and Horace Kornegay, president of the Tobacco Institute from 1970 to 1980. In addition, there are materials related to research on the relationship between asbestos and health, conducted by Barnaby J. Feder. Collection also includes materials from 1983 to 2001, which consist of approximately 50 books addressing the health consequences of smoking; two VHS tapes; and five TI-produced advertising mock-ups. The collection includes the memorandum called "The Roper Proposal," written by Panzer on May 1, 1972. In this memorandum, Panzer proposed prolonging the controversy about the association between smoking and health issues found by scientific research, in order to reject the evidence on this matter.
- Biographical / historical:
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The Tobacco Institute (TI) was founded in 1958 by twelve U.S. tobacco companies. The TI represented the interests of the companies that financed it, functioning as a public relations and lobbying organization that communicated the tobacco industry's views on tobacco-related health and economic issues to the public and the government. According to this purpose, the Tobacco Institute opposed legislation unfavorable to the tobacco industry, put a positive spin on the industry, bolstered the industry's credibility with legislators and the public, and helped maintain the controversy over health issues related to tobacco consumption. The Tobacco Institute carried out these activities during a time of crisis for the tobacco industry. Although health concerns about smoking had been raised for decades, by the early 1950s there was a powerful expansion and consolidation of scientific research and findings that demonstrated that smoking caused lung disease as well as other serious respiratory and cardiac diseases, leading to death. These findings appeared in major, peer-reviewed medical journals as well as throughout the general media. The Tobacco Institute did not accept this evidence. On the contrary, it stressed the contribution of tobacco to the U.S. economy and the importance of preserving tobacco farms. It also claimed the inconclusiveness and inconsistency of antismoking findings and supported the rights of individual smokers to smoke in public places. In 1998, the Institute was forced to dissolve following legal action against the tobacco industry by the National Association of Attorneys General of the United States (NAAG).
Frederick Panzer was Vice President of the Tobacco Institute from 1971 to 1980. He defended the interests of the tobacco companies, delaying and hindering the anti-tobacco movement of the time. He advocated for the right of people to smoke, and argued that smoking was not the main cause of diseases attributed to it by research, through his relations with the White House, Congress, the Cabinet, State Governors, the Senate, and medical universities and researchers. As a Vice President, Panzer also monitored the activities of Congress related to smoking and health issues, prepared statements to brief Congress on smoking and health issues, and wrote speeches for the President of TI. In 1972, Panzer wrote a memorandum entitled "The Roper Proposal". In this memorandum, Panzer described how the tobacco industry had created public doubt about the link between smoking and disease, and how the Institute needed to adapt its methods and messages to keep this controversy alive without actually accepting the harmfulness of tobacco.
Panzer graduated from the City College of New York in 1948. He then worked in the Public Relations Department of two state entities, the New York State Division of Housing (1949-1952) and the New York State Employment Service (1952-1956). Panzer also worked in the Information Services or Public Relations Department of the U.S. Veteran's Administration, again doing promotional work but focusing on veteran's benefits, principally using radio and television media outlets. In 1962, Panzer became the Deputy Director of Public Relations for the President's Council on Aging, a part of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. He did public relations work for the President's Council on Aging through 1964. In 1965, Panzer joined the staff of the White House, where he conducted research and helped write speeches, among other things. In 1969, Fred Panzer joined the staff of the Tobacco Institute (TI) where he remained until his retirement in 1990 at the age of sixty-five. In 1990, following his retirement from TI, Panzer began working part-time as a consultant with Hecht-Spencer Associates, a lobbying organization.
Sources: https://tobaccotactics.org/article/tobacco-institute/ https://www.encyclopedia.com https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tobacco_Institute https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3490543/ https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/civil/legacy/2014/09/11/20040816%20US%20FACTUAL%20MEMO%20w%20BkMks_0.pdf
- Acquisition information:
- The Fred Panzer papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase from Type Punch Matrix in 2021.
- Processing information:
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Processed by Ofelia Lopez, October, 2023.
Accessions described in this collection guide: 2023-0112
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Subjects
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- Preferred citation:
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[Identification of item], Fred Panzer papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
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