Asbestos Timeline: Before 1930

Every dated document we have published from before 1930, year by year: 11 from the Motley 1000, 9 from the J-M chronology, 4 from the Simpson Papers. Each line links to the document itself. For the story these documents tell, read before 1930 on our history page.

Key documents

• 1918. A U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report says American and Canadian life insurers generally decline asbestos workers because of the industry's health hazards. Read it
• December 3, 1927. Dr. W. E. Cooke names the disease "pulmonary asbestosis" in the British Medical Journal, alongside papers by Stuart McDonald and Sir Thomas Oliver. Read it
• August 10, 1929. Pauline Lasin sues Johns-Manville over her husband's death; J-M has the suit dismissed using a statement its plant manager helped take from her at home. Read it

1898

• February 8, 1898. Henry Ward Johns, whose asbestos company was a forerunner of Johns-Manville, dies at 60; his death certificate gives the cause as "phthisis pulmonalis." Read it (J-M chronology)

1902

• 1902. Dangerous Trades, a British text on industrial hazards, lists asbestos weaving among the most injurious processes known since ancient times. Read it (J-M chronology)

1907

• 1907. Dr. H. Montague Murray tells a British government committee that an asbestos carding-room worker died of lung fibrosis, and that the disease will occur "if there is dust." Read it (J-M chronology)

1918

• 1918. A U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report says American and Canadian life insurers generally decline asbestos workers because of the industry's health hazards. Read it (J-M chronology)

1924

• July 26, 1924. Dr. W. E. Cooke reports in the British Medical Journal the death of a 33-year-old asbestos factory worker from lung fibrosis, the first proved case in English medical literature. Read it (J-M chronology)

1927

• December 3, 1927. Dr. W. E. Cooke names the disease "pulmonary asbestosis" in the British Medical Journal, alongside papers by Stuart McDonald and Sir Thomas Oliver. Read it (J-M chronology)

1928

• May 26, 1928. The British Medical Journal publishes Dr. F. W. Simson's study of lung scarring in asbestos mill workers from Southern Rhodesia. Read it (Simpson Papers)
• December 1, 1928. The British Medical Journal prints Dr. H. E. Seiler's report of a Glasgow asbestos worker with lung fibrosis and no tuberculosis. Read it (Simpson Papers)

1929

• January 1929. Drs. M. J. Stewart and A. C. Haddow report finding asbestosis bodies in lung material and sputum from living asbestos workers. Read it (Simpson Papers)
• May 8, 1929. Anna Pirskowski, a former Manville plant worker, sues Johns-Manville in federal court over asbestos dust; the case is settled in 1934. Read it (J-M chronology)
• June 1929. Dr. S. Roodhouse Gloyne reports in Tubercle that the golden bodies in asbestosis lungs are built around asbestos fibers and proposes calling them "asbestos bodies." Read it (Simpson Papers)
• July 8, 1929. Benjamin Perone sues Johns-Manville over dust disease; J-M's bid to dismiss, based on a statement taken at his home, fails in court. Read it (Motley 1000)
• July 8, 1929. John Perone, a former Manville plant worker in a sanatorium, sues Johns-Manville; J-M questions him there to try to end the suit, which is settled in 1934. Read it (Motley 1000)
• July 8, 1929. Michael Perone sues Johns-Manville over asbestos dust at the Manville plant; after his death his mother pursues the case, which is settled in 1934. Read it (Motley 1000)
• July 23, 1929. Manville worker Frank Bartus sues Johns-Manville over tuberculosis, then signs a statement in the plant manager's office disowning the suit, which is dropped in 1930. Read it (Motley 1000)
• July 23, 1929. Helen Zackwiejz's mother sues Johns-Manville for her asbestos-related illness; J-M obtains the young worker's signed statement, taken at the plant, disowning the suit. Read it (Motley 1000)
• July 23, 1929. John Zackwiejz's mother sues Johns-Manville over his tuberculosis; J-M's attempt to have the suit thrown out with her disavowal fails, and the case later settles. Read it (Motley 1000)
• August 10, 1929. Pauline Lasin sues Johns-Manville over her husband's death; J-M has the suit dismissed using a statement its plant manager helped take from her at home. Read it (Motley 1000)
• September 26, 1929. The mother of Michael DeMuro, a Manville plant worker who died in January 1929, sues Johns-Manville for his death from asbestos dust; the case is settled in 1934. Read it (Motley 1000)
• September 26, 1929. Robert Marshall sues Johns-Manville over the death of his daughter Helen, a Manville plant worker; J-M takes a statement from him at the plant saying he blamed no one. Read it (Motley 1000)
• October 7, 1929. The widow of Mike Strelec, a Manville plant worker who died in a sanatorium, sues Johns-Manville over his death; J-M's investigator takes her statement at home. Read it (Motley 1000)
• October 22, 1929. Susie Rinaldo sues Johns-Manville over her husband's death; J-M has the suit discontinued with a statement taken from her in the plant manager's office. Read it (Motley 1000)
• November 1929. Metropolitan Life surveys dust at J-M's Manville plant, the first of a planned industry-wide study, and finds excessive counts at pipe-covering saws and cement mixers. Read it (J-M chronology)
• December 9, 1929. A. Hughes at the Manville factory tells J-M's Legal Department that "one more victim" was the day's work: "We got her." Read it (J-M chronology)