William A. Burgess artifacts and memorabilia, 1960-1980. WAM 21596-21597

William A. Burgess artifacts and memorabilia, 1960-1980. WAM 21596-21597

Burgess, William A., 1924-

Occupational Health

Industrial hygiene

William Alfred Burgess was born in 1924. Burgess was the sole industrial hygenist at the General Electric facility near Boston during the 1950s. In 1960 he left private industry and joined the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where he was an Associate Professor of Occupational Health Engineering. In 1967, William Burgess submitted a proposal to the American Iron and Steel Institute to design new powered air-purifying respirators for use in the coke ovens at steel plants. Coke oven workers exposed to clouds of contaminants produced by super-heating coal were developing lung cancer at ten times a normal rate. Burgess was hired to create respirators that would significantly reduce that rate. Burgess worked as a volunteer consultant on respiratory protection to the Boston Fire Department from 1969 to 1978, during which time he completed multiple studies on the respiratory and environmental hazards faced by firefighters in the line of duty. In the 1980s, Burgess returned to private industry and became the corporate manager of industrial hygiene at the polaroid company, while continuing to teach at Harvard. He is now retired.

This collection contains objects relating to William A. Burgess' work in the field of industrial hygiene. The artifacts in this collection relate to Burgess' work in both steel plants and the Boston Fire Department during the 1960s and 1970s.

William Burgess Papers, H MSc462

2016-036

William A. Burgess donated these items to the Warren Anatomical Museum in 2015.