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Collection Number: 04463

Collection Title: Brown Lung Association Records, 1973-1983

This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


expand/collapse Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size 10.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 3500 items)
Abstract The Brown Lung Association (BLA) Records consist chiefly records of the central office of the Brown Lung Association, as well as related organizations, including the Southern Institute for Occupational Health and the Brown Lung Legal Center. Records document the organizational, legal, and financial activities of these groups. Topics include special projects, fundraising, staffing, state legislation, workers' compensation, federal regulations, and research on brown lung disease. Also included are materials relating to byssinosis cases heard before the North Carolina Industrial Commission between 1977 and 1981. Frequent defendants in these cases are J. P. Stevens, Burlington Industries, Cone Mills, and Fieldcrest Mills. Also included are a set of volumes that provide information on the North Carolina Industrial Commission, the Asheboro and Greensboro BLA chapters, medical panels, North Carolina legislation, and the North Carolina Governor's Panel on Brown Lung; photographs of unidentified textile workers; and audiovisual materials related to BLA events and textile workers.
Creator Brown Lung Association.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access
Use of audio or moving image materials may require production of listening or viewing copies.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Brown Lung Association Records #4463, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Candace Carraway and Betty Bailey of Durham, N.C.; Florence Sandlin of Julian, N.C., in August 1986 (086102) and October 1987 (Acc. 087096).
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: Mark Beasley, November 1986; Patricia Gantt, May 1989; Jill Snider, March 1990

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Updated by: Anne Wells, January 2019; Dawne Howard Lucas, February 2022

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

In October 1974, Mike Szpak received a seed-grant from the Youth Project, a community-service agency based in Washington, D.C., to develop an organization that would combat the problem of byssinosis (brown lung) in the Carolinas. By early 1975, Szpak had successfully established a local brown lung association in Columbia, S.C., had initiated plans and fundraising for associations in several other locations, and had created the Southern Institute for Occupational Health to sponsor and coordinate organizational efforts to fight brown lung.

By the end of the year, the Carolina Brown Lung Association (later shortened to Brown Lung Association or BLA) had emerged out of these earlier efforts and assumed the form it would keep throughout the early 1980s. The Association organized local chapters (originally in the Carolinas, but later also in Georgia and Virginia), conducted breathing clinics, carried out lobbying and media campaigns, and filed workers' compensation claims for textile workers. The Brown Lung Association's major successes included the reform of South Carolina's compensation laws, passage of stricter federal cotton dust standards, attraction of media attention to brown lung, and the payment of workers' compensation to textile workers disabled by the disease.

The Brown Lung Legal Center grew out of the Brown Lung Association's Legal Committee in the late 1970s. This organization focused on the legal complications of receiving compensation for brown lung victims.

The activities of the Brown Lung Association decreased during the early 1980s as a result of deteriorating economic conditions in the textile industry and reforms in workers' compensation laws and industrial standards. By 1986, the Association was virtually inactive.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

Chiefly central office of the BLA, which incorporates the files of the Southern Institute for Occupational Health and the Brown Lung Legal Center, and documents the organizational, legal, and financial activities of the these groups. Topics include special projects, fundraising, staffing, state legislation, workers' compensation, federal regulations, and research on brown lung disease. Also included are materials relating to approximately 120 byssinosis cases heard before the North Carolina Industrial Commission between 1977 and 1981. Frequent defendants in these cases are J. P. Stevens, Burlington Industries, Cone Mills, and Fieldcrest Mills; a set of eleven volumes that provide information on the North Carolina Industrial Commission, the Asheboro and Greensboro BLA chapters, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, BLA clinics, medical panels, North Carolina legislation, and the North Carolina Governor's Panel on Brown Lung; photographs of textile workers; audio recordings of BLA events and protest songs; video recordings of BLA events, public service annoucements, and documentary films on textile workers; and computer tapes containing copies of a U.S. Dept. of Labor study on brown lung.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Office Files, 1974-1983.

About 3,150 items.

Files from the central office of the Brown Lung Association. Most files retain titles assigned by BLA staff; a few titles have been changed to clarify contents. Several files were added during processing to hold loose material.

Folder 1

Affirmative Action Statement of the BLA

Folder 2

American Textile Manufactures Institute vs. U.S. Dept. of Labor

Folder 3

Background of the BLA

Folder 4-11

Folder 4

Folder 5

Folder 6

Folder 7

Folder 8

Folder 9

Folder 10

Folder 11

Bi-State (N.C.-S.C.) Board

Folder 12

BLA Literature: Brown Lung Blues

Folder 13-15

Folder 13

Folder 14

Folder 15

BLA Literature: Brown Lung Reporter

Folder 16

BLA Literature: Chapter Publications - Aiken (S.C.)

Folder 17

BLA Literature: Chapter Publications - Albemarle (N.C.)

Folder 18

BLA Literature: Chapter Publications - Anderson (S.C.)

Folder 19

BLA Literature: Chapter Publications - Columbia (S.C.)

Folder 20

BLA Literature: Chapter Publications - Eden (N.C.)

Folder 21

BLA Literature: Chapter Publications - Ephraim Lowder Memorial

Folder 22-23

Folder 22

Folder 23

BLA Literature: Chapter Publications - Greensboro (N.C.)

Folder 24

BLA Literature: Chapter Publications - Greenville (S.C.)

Folder 25

BLA Literature: Chapter Publications - Lincoln-Gaston (S.C.)

Folder 26

BLA Literature: Chapter Publications - Richmond-Scotland (N.C.)

Folder 27

BLA Literature: Chapter Publications - Roanoke Rapids (Va.)

Folder 28

BLA Literature: Chapter Publications - Spartanburg (S.C.)

Folder 29

BLA Literature: Fliers

Folder 30-37

Folder 30

Folder 31

Folder 32

Folder 33

Folder 34

Folder 35

Folder 36

Folder 37

BLA Literature: Miscellaneous

Folder 38

BLA Literature: News Releases

Folder 39

BLA Literature: State Publications - Georgia

Folder 40-42

Folder 40

Folder 41

Folder 42

BLA Literature: State Publications - North Carolina

Folder 43-47

Folder 43

Folder 44

Folder 45

Folder 46

Folder 47

BLA Literature: State Publications - South Carolina

Folder 48

BLA Literature: State Publications - Virginia

Folder 49-54

Folder 49

Folder 50

Folder 51

Folder 52

Folder 53

Folder 54

BLA Miscellaneous Records

Folder 55

Breath of Life Organizing Campaign

Folder 56-57

Folder 56

Folder 57

Briefs for cases before U.S. and N.C. supreme courts)

Folder 58

Briefs

Folder 59

Brody-Haskett Grievance

Folder 60

Brown Lung Legal Center Annual Report, 1979

Folder 61

Brown Lung Week, 7-14 October 1979

Folder 62

Burlington Industries

Folder 63

Byssinosis Conference, 14-16 April 1980

Folder 64-66

Folder 64

Folder 65

Folder 66

Campaign for Human Development

Folder 67

CETA

Folder 68

Chapter Material: Burlington (N.C.)

Folder 69

Chapter Material: Eden (N.C.)

Folder 70

Chapter Material: Erwin (N.C.)

Folder 71

Chapter Material: Greensboro (N.C.)

Folder 72

Chapter Material: Lincoln-Gaston (N.C.)

Folder 73

Chapter Material: Richmond-Scotland (N.C.)

Folder 74

Chapter Material: Richmond-Scotland (N.C.)

Folder 75

Chapter Reports, 1980

Folder 76

Chapter Reports, 1981

Folder 77

Clinics

Folder 78-88

Folder 78

Folder 79

Folder 80

Folder 81

Folder 82

Folder 83

Folder 84

Folder 85

Folder 86

Folder 87

Folder 88

Clippings about Brown Lung

Folder 89

Compensation Problems

Folder 90

Compensation Problems, Specific

Folder 91

Compensation Workshop

Folder 92

Cone Mills Litigation

Folder 93

Correspondence, 1974

Folder 94

Correspondence, January-March 1975

Folder 95

Correspondence, April-May 1975

Folder 96

Correspondence, June-July 1975

Folder 97

Correspondence, August-September 1975

Folder 98

Correspondence, October-November 1975

Folder 99

Correspondence, December 1975

Folder 100

Correspondence, 1976

Folder 101

Correspondence, 1977

Folder 102

Correspondence, 1978

Folder 103

Correspondence, 1979

Folder 104

Correspondence, 1980

Folder 105

Correspondence, 1981

Folder 106

Correspondence, 1982

Folder 107

Correspondence, 1983

Folder 108

Correspondence, Undated

Folder 109-111

Folder 109

Folder 110

Folder 111

Cotton Dust Standard

Folder 112

Cotton, Inc.

Folder 113

Cotton Mills

Folder 114-117

Folder 114

Folder 115

Folder 116

Folder 117

Department of Labor Study, 1979

Folder 118

Doctors

Folder 119

Education, Medical Strategies

Folder 120

Education, Workers' Compensation

Folder 121

Executive Board

Folder 122-125

Folder 122

Folder 123

Folder 124

Folder 125

Federal Government Publications

Folder 126

Finance Committee

Folder 127

Folklore of Protest

Folder 128-131

Folder 128

Folder 129

Folder 130

Folder 131

Fundraising

Folder 132

Georgia Manufacturers Association

Folder 133

Georgia-Virginia Hiring Committee

Folder 134-141

Folder 134

Folder 135

Folder 136

Folder 137

Folder 138

Folder 139

Folder 140

Folder 141

Governor James B. Hunt's Brown Lung Study, 1980

Folder 142

Grievance Procedure

Folder 143

History of Recognition of Brown Lung

Folder 144

Industry Media Campaign

Folder 145

Interviews - CBLA

Folder 146

IRS Determination Letters

Folder 147-148

Folder 147

Folder 148

Legal Committee

Folder 149

Legal Manual

Folder 150-151

Folder 150

Folder 151

Legislation, Federal

Folder 152-156

Folder 152

Folder 153

Folder 154

Folder 155

Folder 156

Legislation, North Carolina

Folder 157

Legislative Committee

Folder 158-164

Folder 158

Folder 159

Folder 160

Folder 161

Folder 162

Folder 163

Folder 164

Liberty Mutual Insurance Company

Folder 165

List of Depositions & Medical Articles Bibliography

Folder 166

Lowder, Ephraim, Grievance

Folder 167-168

Folder 167

Folder 168

Meetings: Memos, Minutes, & Agendas

Folder 169

Miscellaneous

Folder 170

Mountain Life and Work, 1975-1980

Folder 171

Mountain Life and Work, 1981-1982

Folder 172

National Committee on the Self-Development of People

Folder 173

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Folder 174

North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers - Compensation Committee

Folder 175

North Carolina Approved State Plan for Enforcement of State Standards

Folder 176-178

Folder 176

Folder 177

Folder 178

North Carolina State Board of the BLA

Folder 179

North Carolina Compensation Statistics

Folder 180-187

Folder 180

Folder 181

Folder 182

Folder 183

Folder 184

Folder 185

Folder 186

Folder 187

North Carolina Industrial Commission

Folder 188

North Carolina WOA Activities

Folder 189-192

Folder 189

Folder 190

Folder 191

Folder 192

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Folder 193

Occupational Safety and Health Administration Open Records Campaign

Folder 194

Prevalency of Brown Lung Data

Folder 195

Social Security Data

Folder 196

South Carolina Approved State Plan for Enforcement of State Standards

Folder 197

South Carolina Compensation Procedures

Folder 198

South Carolina Industrial Commission

Folder 199

South Carolina Legal Strategy

Folder 200

South Carolina Medical Crosstabs

Folder 201

South Carolina Workers' Compensation Data

Folder 202-206

Folder 202

Folder 203

Folder 204

Folder 205

Folder 206

Southern Institute for Occupational Health

Folder 207

Southern Poverty Law Center

Folder 208-213

Folder 208

Folder 209

Folder 210

Folder 211

Folder 212

Folder 213

Staff

Folder 214

Stevens (J. P. Stevens)

Folder 215

Training Materials for Organizers

Folder 216

Virginia Materials

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Compensation Hearings, 1973-1981.

About 300 items.

Arrangement: numerically by BLA-assigned number.

Material relating to about 120 byssinosis compensation hearings before the North Carolina Industrial Commission, chiefly 1977-1981. Material relating to each hearing is filed in a separate folder labelled with plaintiff/defendant and BLA number.

Defendants are J. P. Stevens, Burlington Mills, Cone Mills, Fieldcrest Mills, and other North Carolina textile mills. Types of materials in the files are chiefly opinions and awards, memoranda, affidavits, petitions, copies of correspondence, briefs, transcripts of evidence, orders, and medical evaluations.

Folder 217-219

Folder 217

Folder 218

Folder 219

Weave Room

Folder 220

Whitney Reports

Folder 221-364

Folder 221

Folder 222

Folder 223

Folder 224

Folder 225

Folder 226

Folder 227

Folder 228

Folder 229

Folder 230

Folder 231

Folder 232

Folder 233

Folder 234

Folder 235

Folder 236

Folder 237

Folder 238

Folder 239

Folder 240

Folder 241

Folder 242

Folder 243

Folder 244

Folder 245

Folder 246

Folder 247

Folder 248

Folder 249

Folder 250

Folder 251

Folder 252

Folder 253

Folder 254

Folder 255

Folder 256

Folder 257

Folder 258

Folder 259

Folder 260

Folder 261

Folder 262

Folder 263

Folder 264

Folder 265

Folder 266

Folder 267

Folder 268

Folder 269

Folder 270

Folder 271

Folder 272

Folder 273

Folder 274

Folder 275

Folder 276

Folder 277

Folder 278

Folder 279

Folder 280

Folder 281

Folder 282

Folder 283

Folder 284

Folder 285

Folder 286

Folder 287

Folder 288

Folder 289

Folder 290

Folder 291

Folder 292

Folder 293

Folder 294

Folder 295

Folder 296

Folder 297

Folder 298

Folder 299

Folder 300

Folder 301

Folder 302

Folder 303

Folder 304

Folder 305

Folder 306

Folder 307

Folder 308

Folder 309

Folder 310

Folder 311

Folder 312

Folder 313

Folder 314

Folder 315

Folder 316

Folder 317

Folder 318

Folder 319

Folder 320

Folder 321

Folder 322

Folder 323

Folder 324

Folder 325

Folder 326

Folder 327

Folder 328

Folder 329

Folder 330

Folder 331

Folder 332

Folder 333

Folder 334

Folder 335

Folder 336

Folder 337

Folder 338

Folder 339

Folder 340

Folder 341

Folder 342

Folder 343

Folder 344

Folder 345

Folder 346

Folder 347

Folder 348

Folder 349

Folder 350

Folder 351

Folder 352

Folder 353

Folder 354

Folder 355

Folder 356

Folder 357

Folder 358

Folder 359

Folder 360

Folder 361

Folder 362

Folder 363

Folder 364

Files on individual hearings held before the North Carolina Industrial Commission, 1973-1981

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Volumes, 1975-1981.

12 items.

Contents of loose-leaf binders produced by the BLA central office and local chapters have been placed in folders labeled by volume number.

Folder 365

Volume 1. Compensation Materials. Report of North Carolina Industrial Commission Study on brown lung; BLA compensation legal handbook; and other materials relating to workers' compensation for brown lung victims. About 75 pages.

Folder 366

Volume 2. Resource Materials. Materials for the use of local BLA chapters. About 75 pages.

Folder 367

Volume 3. Clinic Materials. Materials relating to BLA's breathing clinics for textile workers. About 25 pages.

Folder 368-369

Folder 368

Folder 369

Volume 4. OSHA Manual. Suggestions for working with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. About 100 pages.

Folder 370

Volume 5. Doctors' Panels. Materials relating to several 1980 medical panels dealing with brown lung. About 60 pages.

Folder 371-374

Folder 371

Folder 372

Folder 373

Folder 374

Volume 6. North Carolina Governor's Panel. Materials relating to Governor Hunt's 1979 panel study on brown lung, including clippings. About 300 pages.

Folder 375-377

Folder 375

Folder 376

Folder 377

Volume 7. North Carolina Governor's Panel Follow-up. Materials related to reactions to Governor Hunt's 1979 panel study on brown lung, including clippings. About 200 pages.

Folder 378-381

Folder 378

Folder 379

Folder 380

Folder 381

Volume 8. North Carolina Legislation. Materials relating to brown lung, workers' compensation, and other legislation in North Carolina. About 300 pages.

Folder 382

Volume 9. Asheboro Chapter. Minutes, reports and other materials of the Asheboro (N.C.) chapter of the BLA. About 50 pages.

Folder 383

Volume 10. Greensboro Chapter. Minutes, reports, and other materials of the Greensboro (N.C.) chapter of the BLA. About 25 pages.

Folder 384-387

Folder 384

Folder 385

Folder 386

Folder 387

Volume 11. Cotton Dust Kills! Newspaper clippings relating to brown lung, compensation, and other concerns of the BLA. About 200 clippings.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Photographs, Undated.

32 items.

Photographic prints and slides of unidentified textile workers at home and on the job.

Image P-4463/1-6

P-4463/1

P-4463/2

P-4463/3

P-4463/4

P-4463/5

P-4463/6

Photographic prints: unidentified textile workers at home and on the job

6 images

Image P-4463/7-31

P-4463/7

P-4463/8

P-4463/9

P-4463/10

P-4463/11

P-4463/12

P-4463/13

P-4463/14

P-4463/15

P-4463/16

P-4463/17

P-4463/18

P-4463/19

P-4463/20

P-4463/21

P-4463/22

P-4463/23

P-4463/24

P-4463/25

P-4463/26

P-4463/27

P-4463/28

P-4463/29

P-4463/30

P-4463/31

Photographic slides: unidentified textile workers at home and on the job

26 images

Images include unidentified individual workers at home and in the workplace; unidentified groups of workers, mostly on the job; and unidentified workplace scenes.

Special Format Image SF-P-4463/1

Slides

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 5. Audiovisual Materials, 1978-1981 and undated.

16 items.

Arrangement: By format.

Audio recordings, videotapes, and computer tapes related to the BLA. Materials include audio recordings of BLA events and protest songs; video recordings of BLA events, public service announcements, and documentary films on textile workers; and computer tapes containing copies of a U.S. Dept. of Labor study on brown lung.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 5.1. Audio Recordings, 1978-1981 and undated.

9 items.
Audiocassette C-4463/1

"Brown Lung Cotton Mill Blues"

Audiocassette

Audiocassette C-4463/2

Community Focus RAN, 15 July 1979

Audiocassette

Audiocassette C-4463/3

Press Conference, 19 June 1978

Audiocassette

Audiocassette C-4463/4

"Pratt Action"

Audiocassette

Audiocassette C-4463/5

NC OSHA Slide Show, 15 January 1979

Audiocassette

Audiocassette C-4463/6

ATMI Film showing with Q&A, Erwin N.C., 2 March 1981

Audiocassette

Audiocassette C-4463/7

Lawyers Training Session, 20 January 1978, tape 1

Audiocassette

Audiocassette C-4463/8

Lawyers Training Session, 20 January 1978, tape 2

Audiocassette

Audiocassette C-4463/9

Newscast from Ch 2 press conference, 19 June

Audiocassette

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 5.2. Videotapes, Undated.

5 items.
Videotape VT-4463/1

Brown Lung PSA

Videotape VT-4463/2

Brown Lung tape

Videotape VT-4463/3

Press Conference on Access to Medical Records

Videotape VT-4463/4

Song of the Canary

Folder 388

Song of the Canary

Videotape VT-4463/5

Working for Your Life

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 5.3. Computer Tapes, 1980.

2 items.
Folder CT-4463/1

DOL study BLA, copy

Folder CT-4463/2

DOL copy, Chip's copy, 1 April 1980

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

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