Abbreviation | Lung Association |
---|---|
Motto |
"It's a matter of life and breath." (previous) "Fighting For Air" (current) |
Formation | 1904 (as National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis) |
Type | Non-profit |
Headquarters | Washington, D.C., United States |
Membership
|
32,000 |
National President and Chief Executive Officer
|
Harold P. Wimmer |
Website | Lung.org |
Remarks | Names: -National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis (1904 (founding)–1918) -National Tuberculosis Association (1918–1968) -National Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association (1968–1973) -American Lung Association (since 1973) |
The American Lung Association is a voluntary health organization whose mission is to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy and research.
The organization was founded in 1904 to fight tuberculosis as the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis by Edward Livingston Trudeau, Robert Hall Babcock, Henry Martyn Hall, Lawrence Flick, and S. Adolphus Knopf. Earlier in 1892, Flick had founded the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Tuberculosis, the world's first society dedicated to the prevention of TB. The NASPT was Renamed the National Tuberculosis Association (NTA) in 1918, and then the National Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association (NTRDA) in 1968; it adopted its current name in 1973.
Taglines that the Association has used in its public-service messages have included:
In 1907, the Lung Association began their Christmas Seal campaign to raise money for a small TB sanatorium in Delaware. Emily Bissell, a Red Cross volunteer at the time, created holiday seals to sell at the post office for a penny a piece. By the end of her fundraising campaign, she had raised more than ten times the amount needed to save the sanatorium, and the tradition of Christmas Seals was born.
The Association is a defender of the Clean Air Act
A modified version of the Cross of Lorraine serves as the Lung Association's logo. The Paris, France, physician Gilbert Sersiron suggested its use in 1902 as a symbol for the "crusade" against tuberculosis. The double barred cross was originally used in the coat of arms of Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine, a leader of the first crusade and elected ruler of Jerusalem after its capture in 1099.
The national tagline "Fighting for Air" was introduced in 2010 to emphasize the organization's role in reducing particulate pollution in the atmosphere and in public places.
The American Lung Association is a public health organization funded by contributions from individual donors, corporations, foundations and government agency grants. Detailed financial statements are available in their Annual Report which is made public online every year. One of its best-known fund-raising campaigns is its Christmas Seals program, which has been an annual fundraising and public awareness tool for tuberculosis and lung disease since 1907.