Roche donates Advertising Age collection, 1930-1949

By Meg Lamme

Thirty years ago, when Bruce Roche set out to write a history of the American Advertising Federation, he applied for grant monies, some of which came from the then School of Communication. Now those investments in his work are coming full circle with Roche’s donation to the Angelo Bruno Business Library of 19 years of Advertising Age, a national advertising and marketing magazine. Formatted in microfilm, the donation includes issues published between 1930 and 1949, greatly extending the University’s collection of Advertising Age, which currently begins with issues published in 1950.

Roche, an associate professor emeritus of advertising and public relations, joined what is now the College of Communication & Information Sciences in 1972 and helped launch the Department of Advertising and Public Relations. Although he retired in 1994, he continues to contribute to students and to the advertising profession through his work with the Alabama Advertising Education Foundation and his membership in the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa chapters of the American Advertising Federation.