Lorin Edgar Kerr papers

The Kerr Papers consist of twenty linear feet of correspondence, statistical reports, organization files, and reprints and other writings, organized in four series: UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES, WRITINGS, and PERSONAL PAPERS. Approximately one third of the papers concern the U. M.W.A. Department of Occupational Health and date from 1967 to 1978. The remainder of the papers extends from 1948 to 1978, with a few items dating from 1943 to 1948.

Series I, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, is organized in two sections, Correspondence and Subject Files and Welfare and Retirement Fund. The first section consists of Kerr's office correspondence as director of the Department of Occupational Health. Most of the section is arranged alphabetically by name or subject; the interoffice correspondence is placed at the end of the section and is arranged chronologically.

The bulk of the correspondence extends from the establishment of the Department of Occupational Health in June 1969 through 1978, although a few letters date from 1967 and 1968. The alphabetical correspondence includes exchanges with associates in public health and other fields, elected officials, miners and their families, and professional and labor organizations. Also included is extensive correspondence with the United States Departments of Labor and of Health, Education, and Welfare (D.H.E.W.). The D.H.E.W. files contain a large amount of general correspondence covering health legislation, social security, and health-related conferences; the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health folder (158) contains material of special value regarding health standards. The alphabetical files include some correspondence with colleagues in the union and in the Department of Occupational Health; there are cross references to the material in the more voluminous chronological interoffice correspondence files.

For the most part the interoffice correspondence files contain material relating to the daily operation of the department, including circulated memoranda, press releases, and pamphlets regarding facilities. personnel, and equipment. The files do include some items of interest, however. A variety of letters and other materials concerning the Medical Advisory Committee of the Department of Occupational Health reflects the various issues which concerned the department in its early days. Also, the Interoffice Files occasionally focuses on such subjects as the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 (1970 Jan 14, Mar 24), on health and safety disputes arising in the mines (1974 Jul 19), and on issues surrounding the operation of the union's hospitals and clinics (1970 Mar 4, 1973 Feb 13, 1975 Nov 11). The files also include occasional letters with U.M.W.A. presidents William A. (Tony) Boyle, and Arnold Miller.

The Welfare and Retirement Fund section is made up of a variety of statistical reports for the fund dating from 1948 to 1968, including an extensive run of Medical Care Statistics (1952-1958).

Series II, OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES, contains files from Kerr's participation in professional organizations and as a visiting professor at Howard University. The series dates from 1944 to 1977 and is organized in six sections: American Public Health Association, District of Columbia Department of Public Health, Public Health Council, District of Columbia Public Health Association, Group Health Association of America, Howard University, and National Institutes on Rehabilitation and Health Services.

The American Public Health Association section is the largest in the series and is divided into General Papers and Committees and Sections. The General Papers are most extensive for the 1970's, when Kerr served as president (1974) and executive board member; they include correspondence, minutes, and other material. Much of the correspondence covers routine administrative matters, but some letters concern Kerr's efforts to promote stronger positions on radiation hazards, occupational respiratory diseases, air pollution, health regulations for farm workers, and other occupational and environmental issues.

The District of Columbia Department of Public Health, Public Health Advisory Council section contains the files kept by Kerr during his tenure as chairman of the Council (1966-1968). In addition to general correspondence, minutes, and committee files, the section's "historical" file on the implementation of Medicaid in the District contains correspondence, bills, newsclippings, and statements by Kerr.

The Group Health Association of America section extends from 1952 to 1968 and is of special interest. Kerr was an officer and active member of the American Labor Health Association from 1952 forward. The Background Material subsection contains information on the A.L.H.A. and on its merger with the Group Health Federation of America in May 1959, which created the G.H.A.A.. The General Papers contain correspondence, and minutes from Kerr's appointment as a member of the board of directors and executive board and from his term as president (1966-1968). They also include subject correspondence regarding legislation and other issues. The Conferences subsection contains an extensive run of Proceedings of the Group Health Institute.

Series III, WRITINGS, is arranged chronologically (1943-1978), and is made up of reprints, United Mine Workers Journal columns, texts of speeches and Congressional testimony, and other writings by Kerr. The files also include some related correspondence and reference material. The texts of Kerr's testimony before Congressional committees are of special interest. In addition to frequent statements regarding black lung disease the texts cover a variety of topics, including national health insurance, the budgets for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and health standards.

Series IV, PERSONAL PAPERS, consists of a few folders of correspondence, most concerning personal financial matters, and newsclippings regarding Kerr's activities and appointments. It also includes one folder of biographical information and photographs of Kerr's wife, Goldie Krantz.

The Kerr Papers were donated to Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library, by Dr. Kerr in two accessions, one in 1977 and the other in 1980. The papers are part of the Contemporary Medical Care and Health Policy Collection, which also includes the papers of Kerr's wife, Goldie Krantz (Ms. Group 780), and of several of his associates in medical care and health policy.