Sumner Simpson to E. H. Jeffords on X-Raying Raybestos-Manhattan Workers (1934)

A two-page letter of April 25, 1934, from Sumner Simpson, president of Raybestos-Manhattan, to E. H. Jeffords, general manager of R-M's General Asbestos & Rubber Division in North Charleston, South Carolina. Simpson reported a decision to X-ray all new men hired at Manheim and Passaic, and to X-ray and examine the men already employed "gradually," creating among them, "by proper education and judicious dissemination of information by word of mouth," the desire to be examined at no cost to them. The Charleston Division was in a different position "on account of the number of suits we have had filed against us": "it is a case where we will be sued if we don't examine them, and may be sued if we do," so the men would be examined, but with "a little diplomacy" and not "in mass formation."

What it shows

The letter shows Raybestos-Manhattan, J-M's partner in the joint dust program, planning X-ray examinations with the Charleston suits in mind, and taking care over how the examinations were presented to the workers. Simpson put the cost of an X-ray at about $6 to $10.

About this copy

This is a Raybestos-Manhattan letter, not a Johns-Manville one. Its exhibit stamp, "Simpson 49," suggests it was among the Sumner Simpson Papers, Raybestos-Manhattan's own files that were produced in asbestos lawsuits in 1977, but that is a guess.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

Johns-Manville's own chronology of what the company knew describes this document as follows:

On 4/25/34, Raybestos decided to x-ray all Charleston plantworkers after some suits were filed. Asked Metropolitan to provide a letter requesting x-rays for statistical, prophylactic reasons in case employees grew curious about why they were to be x-rayed.

Editor's note: J-M's description says Raybestos-Manhattan asked Metropolitan Life for a letter requesting the X-rays for statistical, prophylactic reasons. This letter does not mention such a request.