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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.
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 |
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
Back to TopThe 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.
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.
Back to TopChiefly 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.
Back to TopFiles 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.
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 217Folder 218Folder 219 |
Weave Room |
Folder 220 |
Whitney Reports |
Folder 221-364
Folder 221Folder 222Folder 223Folder 224Folder 225Folder 226Folder 227Folder 228Folder 229Folder 230Folder 231Folder 232Folder 233Folder 234Folder 235Folder 236Folder 237Folder 238Folder 239Folder 240Folder 241Folder 242Folder 243Folder 244Folder 245Folder 246Folder 247Folder 248Folder 249Folder 250Folder 251Folder 252Folder 253Folder 254Folder 255Folder 256Folder 257Folder 258Folder 259Folder 260Folder 261Folder 262Folder 263Folder 264Folder 265Folder 266Folder 267Folder 268Folder 269Folder 270Folder 271Folder 272Folder 273Folder 274Folder 275Folder 276Folder 277Folder 278Folder 279Folder 280Folder 281Folder 282Folder 283Folder 284Folder 285Folder 286Folder 287Folder 288Folder 289Folder 290Folder 291Folder 292Folder 293Folder 294Folder 295Folder 296Folder 297Folder 298Folder 299Folder 300Folder 301Folder 302Folder 303Folder 304Folder 305Folder 306Folder 307Folder 308Folder 309Folder 310Folder 311Folder 312Folder 313Folder 314Folder 315Folder 316Folder 317Folder 318Folder 319Folder 320Folder 321Folder 322Folder 323Folder 324Folder 325Folder 326Folder 327Folder 328Folder 329Folder 330Folder 331Folder 332Folder 333Folder 334Folder 335Folder 336Folder 337Folder 338Folder 339Folder 340Folder 341Folder 342Folder 343Folder 344Folder 345Folder 346Folder 347Folder 348Folder 349Folder 350Folder 351Folder 352Folder 353Folder 354Folder 355Folder 356Folder 357Folder 358Folder 359Folder 360Folder 361Folder 362Folder 363Folder 364 |
Files on individual hearings held before the North Carolina Industrial Commission, 1973-1981 |
Contents of loose-leaf binders produced by the BLA central office and local chapters have been placed in folders labeled by volume number.
Photographic prints and slides of unidentified textile workers at home and on the job.
Image P-4463/1-6
P-4463/1P-4463/2P-4463/3P-4463/4P-4463/5P-4463/6 |
Photographic prints: unidentified textile workers at home and on the job6 images |
Image P-4463/7-31
P-4463/7P-4463/8P-4463/9P-4463/10P-4463/11P-4463/12P-4463/13P-4463/14P-4463/15P-4463/16P-4463/17P-4463/18P-4463/19P-4463/20P-4463/21P-4463/22P-4463/23P-4463/24P-4463/25P-4463/26P-4463/27P-4463/28P-4463/29P-4463/30P-4463/31 |
Photographic slides: unidentified textile workers at home and on the job26 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 |
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.
Audiocassette C-4463/1 |
"Brown Lung Cotton Mill Blues"Audiocassette |
Audiocassette C-4463/2 |
Community Focus RAN, 15 July 1979Audiocassette |
Audiocassette C-4463/3 |
Press Conference, 19 June 1978Audiocassette |
Audiocassette C-4463/4 |
"Pratt Action"Audiocassette |
Audiocassette C-4463/5 |
NC OSHA Slide Show, 15 January 1979Audiocassette |
Audiocassette C-4463/6 |
ATMI Film showing with Q&A, Erwin N.C., 2 March 1981Audiocassette |
Audiocassette C-4463/7 |
Lawyers Training Session, 20 January 1978, tape 1Audiocassette |
Audiocassette C-4463/8 |
Lawyers Training Session, 20 January 1978, tape 2Audiocassette |
Audiocassette C-4463/9 |
Newscast from Ch 2 press conference, 19 JuneAudiocassette |
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 |
Folder CT-4463/1 |
DOL study BLA, copy |
Folder CT-4463/2 |
DOL copy, Chip's copy, 1 April 1980 |