Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc. - Specimen Stock Certificate

Specimen Stock printed by Security-Columbian Banknote Company. In 1933, physicians from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company discovered that 29% of employees at a Johns-Manville facility were afflicted with asbestosis. That same year, Johns-Manville reached settlements with 11 employees suffering from asbestosis, contingent upon the stipulation that their attorney would refrain from "directly or indirectly participating in the initiation of new legal actions against the Corporation." In 1934, executives from two major asbestos firms, Johns-Manville and Raybestos-Manhattan, revised an article concerning the health issues faced by asbestos workers, which had been authored by a doctor from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. These modifications minimized the perceived risks associated with asbestos dust. In 1935, the leadership of Johns-Manville and Raybestos-Manhattan directed the editor of Asbestos magazine to refrain from publishing any information regarding asbestosis. By 1936, a consortium of asbestos companies consented to fund research on the health implications of asbestos dust, yet insisted on retaining full control over the dissemination of the findings.