Downwinders
In the 1950s and 1960s, during the height of the Cold War, the United States performed a number of atmospheric and below ground nuclear weapons tests, most of them in supposedly remote locations across the Southwest and Colorado Plateau. At the same time, uranium mines covered the region, employing thousands of workers and sometimes giving rise to entire towns. In the name of national security, military and government officials often ignored safety regulations, gave little credence to scientific studies documenting the health hazards caused by radiation, and continued to promote and fund uranium mining and atomic testing. Within years, miners, military personnel, and residents in the area showed signs of various diseases and cancers related to radiation and fallout. After decades of legal wrangling and failed lawsuits against the federal government, Congress passed a bill establishing the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program in 1990 to compensate individuals and families impacted by nuclear development. Now referred to under the banner term "Downwinders," many individuals or their families journey to Special Collections seeking proof of residence in Downwinder areas to support their claims, navigate bureaucratic red tape, and receive what usually amounts to $50,000 in compensation.[1]
1955 Flagstaff Directory cover (left) and page seven (right) featuring Platt Cline.
Local phone directories, like the 1955 Flagstaff Directory (above) and voting ledgers, including the election signature register for the 1952 General Election (below), found in the archives help patrons mount stacks of evidence to prove that atomic testing adversely impacted their health. Look for Cline Library's namesake, Platt Cline, in both the directory and the voting register. As a resident of Flagstaff in the mid-1950s, he was a Downwinder.
Election Signature Register, 1952 General Election (note Platt Cline's signature next to #132), Coconino County Records Collection, AHSND.MS.50, Series IV, Box-Folder 370, Cline Library Special Collections and Archives, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona.
Notes
[1]Peter H. Eichstaedt,If You Poison Us: Uranium and Native Americans (Santa Fe: Red Crane Books, 1994), 102-22.
Next Back
Personal
Recently, a patron arrived at the archives on a quest to find a paper trail proving that her father worked in the uranium mines near Cameron, Arizona. After an exhaustive search with the help of Special Collections staff, she found the above photograph of her father (squatting on left) and a mining crew. The discovery aided both her legal claim and the memories of her father.
Staff Confessions
Late one Spring evening while working at Cline Library's Reference Desk, an elderly gentleman approached and handed a staff member a photocopy of an obituary from the Arizona Daily Sun. He said this was the obituary for his wife, and he needed the copy "certified." Not knowing how to "certify" a newspaper article, or even what "certification" entailed, the staff member pleaded ignorance. Upset, he then pulled out a weathered government form that purportedly corresponded to the obituary, 28 pages of dense data partially filled with hand-written information. He also mentioned that someone from Special Collections could certify the document. Unfortunately, the archives already closed for the day and the disappointed man had to wait until the next day to get the obituary certified for what the employee later learned was the Department of Justice's Downwinder Claim Form. The incident led to the creation of the Special Collections Downwinder Resources information website.
Yearbooks
Editions of La Cuesta, as well as Kinlani High School yearbooks, in the 1950s and 1960s are also important resources for Downwinder claims.
Links
Cline Library's Downwinder Resources
Downwinders.org
United States Department of Justice Radiation Exposure Compensation Program Claims Forms