When the Air Became Important: A Social History of the New England and Lancashire Textile Industries

265 Pages·2019·2.29 MB·English

by  Janet Greenlees

When the Air Became Impor tant
Critical Issues in Health and Medicine
Edited by Rima D. Apple, University of Wisconsin–M adison, and Janet
Golden, Rutgers University, Camden
Growing criticism of the U.S. healthcare system is coming from consumers,
politicians, the media, activists, and healthcare professionals. Critical Issues
in Health and Medicine is a collection of books that explores these contem­
porary dilemmas from a variety of perspectives, among them pol iti cal, legal,
historical, so cio log i cal, and comparative, and with attention to crucial dimensions
such as race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and culture.
For a list of titles in the series, see the last page of the book.
When the Air
Became Impor tant
A Social History of the
New England and Lancashire
Textile Industries
Janet Greenlees
Rutgers University Press
New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark, New Jersey, and London
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Greenlees, Janet, 1966– author.
Title: When the air became impor tant : a social history of the New England and Lancashire
textile industries / Janet Greenlees.
Description: New Brunswick, New Jersey : Rutgers University Press, [2019] | Series: Critical
issues in health and medicine | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018027680 | ISBN 9780813587967 (cloth)
Subjects: LCSH: Textile workers— Diseases— England— Lancashire— History—19th  century. |
Textile workers— Diseases— England— Lancashire— History—20th  century. |
Work environment— England— Lancashire. | Air quality— England— Lancashire.
Classification: LCC RC965.T4 G74 2019 | DDC 331.3/877094276— dc23
LC rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2018027680
A British Cataloging- in- Publication rec ord for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright © 2019 by Janet Greenlees
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written
permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 106 Somerset Street,
New Brunswick, NJ 08901. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined
by U.S. copyright law.
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National
Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48-1992.
www . rutgersuniversitypress . org
Manufactured in the United States of Amer ic a
For Peter

Contents
Abbreviations ix
Chapter 1 Introduction: When Does the Air in the Workplace
Become Impor tant? 1
Chapter 2 Textile Towns and Mill Environments 15
Chapter 3 Tuberculosis in the Factory 43
Chapter 4 “I Used to Feel Ill with It”: Heat, Humidity,
and Fatigue 70
Chapter 5 Dust: A New Socio- Environmental Relationship 101
Chapter 6 “The Noise Were Horrendous”: The Ignored
Industrial Hazard 126
Chapter 7 Conclusion: When Does the Air Become Impor tant? 149
Acknowl edgments 157
Notes 161
Bibliography 205
Index 227
vii

Abbreviations
AMA American Medical Association
ARSBHM Annual Report of the State Board of Health for Mas sac hu setts
AWA Amalgamated Weavers’ Association
BMA British Medical Association
BOH Board of Health
BPP British Parliamentary Papers
CIF Committee on Industrial Fatigue
CIO Congress of Industrial Organi zation
CND Council on National Defense
DOH Department of Health
HMWC Health of Munitions Workers Committee
IFRB Industrial Fatigue Research Board
IHRB Industrial Health Research Board
ILO International L abor Organ ization
MOH Medical Officer of Health
MRC Medical Research Council
NACM National Association of Cotton Manufacturers
NIHL Noise Induced Hearing Loss
NIOSH National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
NIRA National Industrial Recovery Act
NHS National Health Ser vice
NTS National Tuberculosis Ser vice
OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration
PHS Public Health Ser vice
SMA Socialist Medical Association
TUC Trades Union Congress
TWUA Textile Workers Union of Amer ic a
USPHS United States Public Health Ser vice
ix