Institutional History

The Cabinet Committee on Cancer Control was established in May 1976 by Executive Order No. 40 for the purpose of coordinating and evaluating state agency cancer programs, in order to more effectively "identify sources of carcinogenic substances, minimize exposures to carcinogenic substances, and foster the development of ... cancer prevention [and] treatment" programs. Its membership consisted of the governor and the heads of the departments of agriculture, environmental protection, health, higher education and labor and industry. (The commissioner of education was added subsequently.) The committee met monthly and was chaired by the counsel to the governor. In its early years, the committee pursued its goals largely through activities by individual departments. Records from this phase of the committee's existence can be found with the general subject files of the counsel's office and the chief of staff.

However, in early 1979 the committee received a two year contract from the National Cancer Institute to study "the feasibility of a statewide cancer control activity," that is, to evaluate the coordination efforts of the committee itself. The contract funds were used principally to hire two full time staff members, Dr. Ian A. Mitchell, director, and Barbara Lenoble, deputy director, and to hire a consulting agency. In addition to its contracted duties, the committee also managed the governor's second Task Force on Asbestos. (The first task force was operated by the Department of Treasury.)

Content Note

These records are principally the product of the committee's director and deputy director, and consist of subject files, chronological (correspondence) files and asbestos files. Most important are the subject files, especially those containing the committees' minutes and agendas, and its contracts with the National Cancer Institute and with the "evaluation" consultant, Cresap, McCormick and Paget, Inc. Also significant are files relating to the Department of Health, the most active of the committee's constituent agencies.

Since the director and his deputy were not hired until 1979, most of these records date from 1979 to 1980. Copies of earlier documents can be found, however, in the file, "Cabinet Committee on Cancer Control pre 1979 records."

Among its more minor functions, the committee's staff continually collected publications from a large number of New Jersey health organizations. Of these, publications from state agencies were turned over to the New Jersey State Library's state documents section. Non-agency publications were discarded, as were the following ephemeral materials: duplicates, meeting announcements, and routine correspondence concerning personnel, finances, and general office administration.

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