Brown University Library Collections
Alcohol and Addiction Studies Collections
Return to Collections A to Z Index
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AA Grapevine
This collection documents Alcoholics Anonymous through its periodical publication The AA Grapevine, an international journal written, illustrated and edited by AA members for AA members. The collection includes a variety of publications derived from The AA Grapevine, reproduced as books, pamphlets, sound recordings, cartoons as well as in other formats. Related materials can be best located through either a JOSIAH "title" search or a JOSIAH "word" search for "AA grapevine," depending on whether the type of item.
See also:
Box 1980 (a later title for The AA Grapevine, for which Brown has issues for 1980-2001)
AA GV Masters (Reprints from The AA Grapevine arranged in topical order by James D. Blair)
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Anderson (Daniel J.)
This collection consists of the research files of Daniel J. Anderson, one of the developers of the Minnesota Model for the treatment of alcoholism. There are magazines, newspaper clippings, speech outlines on index cards, books, pamphlets, and conference materials.
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Anti-Saloon League
This collection of foreign-language temperance materials was originally amassed by the Anti-Saloon League. The collection was transferred by the League to the Westerville (Ohio) Public Library, and in 1982 was donated by the Westerville Public Library to the library of the Center for Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University. In 1999, Rutgers in turn transferred the collection to the John Hay Library.
The collection comprises approximately 15,000 items dating from the first half of the 20th century. The database linked below lists all cataloged titles and offers the ability to sort by author, title, imprint, call number and language. In addition, there is a link for the collection website on the Anti-Saloon League at the Westerville Public Library, which includes helpful background information on the League.
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Dr. Bob
The collection consists of over five thousand items, including two hundred books, dozens of pieces of memorabilia, and several hundred manuscripts (original and photocopied) and photographs once the property of "Dr. Bob," the legendary co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The collection was purchased in November 1999 from Sue Smith Windows, Dr. Bob's daughter and donated by Esmond Harmsworth, James Abernathy, Christopher Ohrstrom, Mark Ohrstrom, and Richard Ohrstrom. Books, all from Dr. Bob's personal library, deal with religious and spiritual topics as well as the problems of addiction and recovery. Manuscripts include the notes of Dr. Bob's wife, Anne, who jotted down the spiritual principles that eventually influenced the AA movement's twelve steps; a looseleaf binder containing the mimeographed instructions on how to set up an AA meeting sent out to chapter secretaries; and some pages of Dr. Bob's letters and notes. Among the notable items in this collection are the coffee pot that Dr. Bob and Bill W. first used to sober up in 1935.
Visitors should note that there is no permanent display of materials from the Dr. Bob Collection, although the memorabilia can be paged upon request.
NOTE: Researchers using this collection are asked to abide by the Anonymity Guidelines for the Brown University Library AA Collections.
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Heath (Dwight B.)
Collection of international gray literature (conference papers, proceedings, reports, newsletters, government documents, bulletins, fact sheets, etc.), offprints, reprints, and articles pertaining to the topic of cross-cultural patterns of alcohol use and abuse, the principle focus of Dr. Heath's research interests during his years in the Department of Anthropology at Brown. Also includes newsletters of some key, but minimally documented, organizations such as: Kettil Bruun Society, and Alcohol and Drug Study Group. This collection consists of three different accessions. Accession A2009-45 covers the topic of alcoholism among Native Americans.
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Just Say No Campaign collection
This collection contains material, chiefly photographs, related to the "Just Say No" campaign against drug use from 1985 to 1996. It also includes some correspondence to and from the Just Say No Foundation and Just Say No International, slides, negatives, videocassettes and a workbook.
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Kirk (Chester H.)
In 1995, Chester H. Kirk, in a generous contribution to the Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, established the Chester H. Kirk Collection on Alcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous. The 15,000 items purchased initially with Chester Kirk's gift were amassed over two decades by Charles Bishop, Jr., an antiquarian bookseller and author of several research tools on Alcoholics Anonymous and related groups. Acquisition of this collection, one of the largest of its kind in the country, made Brown a center for the study of addiction to alcohol and other substances and for the history of attempts to treat or prevent addiction.
Chronologically, the collection ranges from a leaf from the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle depicting a drunken Noah to late 20th century studies. The formats are equally diverse: in addition to printed books and pamphlets, there are periodicals, newspapers, dealers' catalogues, posters, prints, audiovisual materials, photographs, 18th century engravings and 19th and 20th century sheet music. American in emphasis, the collection provides superlative resources for the study of the temperance and prohibition movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, hospital-based treatment of addictive behavior, and the 20th century evolution of self-help programs epitomized by Alcoholics Anonymous. The collection includes a copy of the first book published in British North America on alcoholism, Anthony Benezet's The Mighty Destroyer Displayed (1774), as well as current issues of The Union Signal, the periodical of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Related materials range widely, from those bearing on drinking customs (bartenders' guides and drinking vessels) to anti-drunk driving campaigns and studies of other widespread addictions such as tobacco and narcotic drugs.
NOTE: Researchers using this collection are asked to abide by the Anonymity Guidelines for the Brown University Library AA Collections.
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Kurtz (Ernest) Alcoholism
Assembled by Ernest Kurtz, beginning in the 1970s. the major strengths of this collection are interviews with and testimonials by alcoholics, and talks given at various workshops. Subjects covered include personal narratives by individuals suffering and recovering from alcoholism. Materials include audio tapes and cassettes.
NOTE: Researchers using this collection are asked to abide by the Anonymity Guidelines for the Brown University Library AA Collections.
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Laperriere (Tom) Kurtz and Snyder recordings
The Tom Laperriere collection of Ernest Kurtz and Clarence Snyder recordings comprises 377 compact disc recordings of talks, speeches and conference proceedings related to alcoholism treatment and Alcoholics Anonymous. Two-thirds of the recordings are copies of selected audiocassette tapes from the Clarence Snyder and Ernest Kurtz collections of the Brown University Library. The remaining discs contain audio recordings provided by Tom Laperriere and include an accompanying relational database and mp3 files. Nearly all of the recordings in the collection are present in duplicate.
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Lewis (David C.)
The David C. Lewis papers contain information on his efforts to collect historical collections concerning alcoholism and his work at the local, state and federal level concerning alcoholism and addiction, as well as administrative materials on the founding of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown. The collection contains correspondence, legal papers, memoranda, writings, printed materials, meeting minutes, audiovisual materials and financial papers including appraisals of collections which David Lewis had acquired or was exploring acquiring for the Brown University library.
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McConoughey (Artha May)
The Artha May McConoughey Papers consist of travel diaries, temperance speeches, law school assignments, photographs, and personal artifacts. All of the written material is from McConoughey's own hand; most of it was composed during the first quarter of the 20th century when she came of age and became active in the temperance and women's suffragist movements in the Chicago area.
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NCADD (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence)
Marty Mann (1905-1980) founded NCADD and dedicated her life to teaching the public that alcoholism is a preventable and treatable disease, not a moral failing.
The archive comprises 16 record storage boxes containing official and personal correspondence, papers, articles, speeches, brochures, press clippings, field reports, Board minutes, photographs, films, and audio cassettes. (An additional portion of Mann's papers can be found at Syracuse University; the online finding aid for that collection is linked below).
NOTE: Researchers using this collection are asked to abide by the Anonymity Guidelines for the Brown University Library AA Collections.
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Powers (Tom) collection of Bill Wilson public talks
The Tom Powers collection of Bill Wilson public talks comprises 147 audio CDs containing 79 public talks given by Bill Wilson at various Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon events between 1947 and 1970.
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Rossi (Jean J.)
This collection consists largely of Dr. Jean J. Rossi's articles on the subject of alcoholism and its treatment. There are also articles on these topics by other psychologists, conference handouts and notes as well as information on Willmar State Hospital.
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Snow (Louis Franklin)
The papers of Louis Franklin Snow consist of manuscript writings, correspondence to and from Snow, as well as materials relating to his work as head of the English department at the University of the Philippines.
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Snyder (Clarence) Alcoholics Anonymous
These papers consist of pamphlets, brochures, books, periodicals, menus, programs and tickets for events, rosters of A.A. groups, speeches, newspaper and magazine clippings, postcards, greeting cards, gas rationing stamps, bills of sale, receipts, and letters either typed, autographed or photocopied. The majority of the materials focus on the early history of Alcoholics Anonymous in the Cleveland, Ohio area and Clarence Snyder's involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous.
The collection also includes books that have been cataloged separately and audio cassettes that are housed separately from the papers.
NOTE: Researchers using this collection are asked to abide by the Anonymity Guidelines for the Brown University Library AA Collections.
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Uhlig (Richard)
Consists principally of background materials--clippings, photocopies, etc.--compiled between 1984 and 1987, concerning individual novelists, poets, and playwrights born between 1885 and 1914 and deceased as of 1984, identified as having been to some degree abusers of alcohol, to be compared with other writers identified as non-abusers. Also includes materials relating to the design of survey instruments and databases; the compiler's grant application submitted to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) in March 1984, with the review panel's response in September 1985; grant application, with title "Etiology of alcohol abuse in 20th century American writers", submitted to Alcoholism Research Authority, c/o Center for Alcohol Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in April 1984; and a small file of correspondence
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