The association, which will later become the American Lung Association, is founded to fundraise for sanatoriums, research, and other related needs for the treatment of tuberculosis, which is often called "consumption" or "the wasting disease."

The members are also concerned with "dealing" with the large number of immigrants moving into urban areas across the country. New understandings in germ theory have highlighted the need to isolate infected patients in order to prevent the spread of this highly-contagious disease. Anti-tuberculosis organizations in the South are some of the first to racially integrate as they look for ways to prevent the disease's spread across both Black and white communities.