![]() One of the issues I had with The Radium Girls is that there were so many characters, that I couldn’t remember who every character was. Radium had been known to be harmful since 1901. “Every family has sadness and grief,” Jean said steadily. These legal battles were interesting and it was very shocking all of the different ways these radium companies were trying to hide what was happening. The Radium Girls tells the story of the many girls that worked at these radium companies, and how they discovered that the radium was causing their sicknesses, and it also covers all of the legal battles they went through to get money to cover their health bills and also for better working conditions for workers. The book expounds on where all of this positive propaganda came from, and the depths of greed that these radium companies had was just astounding. A few doctors were concerned, but all of the information about radium at this time was positive. One girl was told she had syphilis, as even though these girls were in evident pain, with visible health issues, no one was really taking them seriously. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain and trauma that these girls and their families went through. The Radium Girls does not shy away from the disturbing details of their health, and it does take a strong stomach to be able to read this book. ![]() I actually did that, and had a tough time in the dentist chair as I kept picturing these poor women.)įrom spontaneous fractures to miscarriages, mysterious ailments, and death, what the girls suffered was horrific. I don’t recommend reading this right before a dentist appointment. (Sorry for that image, but the book is highly disturbing. ![]() There are many stories of the various girls visiting the dentist and the dentist pulling bits of bone out of their mouth, as the radium would disintegrate their bones. After a few years, the girls discovered that their jaws and teeth were in a lot of pain, and their jaws literally started to fall apart. They were told that the radium was harmless, and not only harmless, but that it actually was a health benefit. They picked up their brushes and they twirled them over and over, just as they had been taught. They were lucky, they thought, as they laughed among themselves and bent their heads to their intricate work. This was radium, the wonder drug, they were using. So, in the course of their job they were actually ingesting radium. In order to get the paintbrush to have the right point for painting, the girls would put the paintbrush in their mouth to shape the brush. The paint wasn’t just made of radium, but rather radium was an ingredient in the paint to make it “glow”. The Radium Girls by Kate Moore tells the stories of the women who worked in the radium companies painting dials with radium paint. I couldn’t put this down despite all of the highly disturbing images. Review: Disturbing, horrifying, and enthralling. *** this post contains affiliate links *** ![]() My copy came from: I borrowed the hardback from my mom. Setting: New Jersey and Illinois 1917-1939 As the fatal poison of the radium took hold, they found themselves embroiled in one of America’s biggest scandals and a groundbreaking battle for workers’ rights.Ī rich, historical narrative written in a sparkling voice, The Radium Girls is the first book that fully explores the strength of extraordinary women in the face of almost impossible circumstances and the astonishing legacy they left behind. With such a coveted job, these “shining girls” were considered the luckiest alive-until they began to fall mysteriously ill. Assured by their bosses that the luminous material was safe, the women themselves shone brightly in the dark, covered from head to toe with the glowing dust. Official Synopsis from Goodreads: The incredible true story of the young women exposed to the “wonder” substance of radium and their brave struggle for justice…As World War I raged across the globe, hundreds of young women toiled away at the radium-dial factories, where they painted clock faces with a mysterious new substance called radium. ![]()
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