He opened another company to produce radium clock dials. Telling the story of the radium girls from the standpoint of the girlswomen who were victimized by corporate greed and their. Americas forgotten radium girls take the lead in new book. Luminous processes, declared the local paper, seems to put profits before people. The old radium dial company building became a meatpacking plant and then a farmers coop. Catherine wolfe donohue, who suffered radium poisoning at the radium dial company in ottawa, ill. The radium dial company rdc moved from the east coast to ottawa in 1922. She was the principal plaintiff in a lawsuit that sought to hold the radium dial company accountable for its negligence. A 4 hour film titled radium city was made in 1986 about the aftereffects of two radium dial painting companies based in ottawa, illinois. The radium girls, subtitled the dark story of americas shining women, by kate moore is the true story about a group of young women, employees of the radium dial company in the early 1900s, who sounded the alarm about the dangers and health risks of radium. Unfortuntately the companies involved in the producing glow in the dark watch. Radium used to be all the rage until the devastating.
The radium dial company was one of a few now defunct united states companies, along with the united states radium corporation, involved in the painting of clocks, watches and other instrument dials using radioluminescent paint containing radium. The lesson of the dial painters, as of hiroshima and chernobyl, is that natures elements, like human nature, have a dark side but the cost of that lesson has been far too high. The paint used was called luna that contained radium to make the watch glow in the dark. Kate moores book is a detailed account of the radium girls experience, told partly in a. Kate moores book is a detailed account of the radium girls experience, told partly in a novelistic style, which i felt worked well the womens characters are brought to life through small imagined details of daily life, against a backdrop of factual information drawn from contemporary material. Emma watsons our shared shelf bookclub selection mayjune 2018 the glowing ghosts of the radium girls haunt us still. A competitor company called radium dial corporation, based in illinois, was beginning to suffer the same fate as usrc.
My first point is the radium dial company, according to the book deadly glow, in 1922 the radium dial company moved from peru il, to ottawa and hired hundreds of girls to paint the dials of wwi and wwii clock faces. In the book, the radium girls, kate moore introduces readers to these real women, who lived in new jersey and in illinois. The radium girls left us all an extraordinary legacy. In the 1920s a group of factory workers advocate for safer work conditions after some of their colleagues become ill from radium exposure. Workman first experienced pain in 1936, but doctors told her it was arthritis. The first such studios were open in new jersey, newark, illinois, and in ottawa, canada. Corporation in northern new jersey, and the radium dial company in. The radium dial worker tragedy describes many of the events 1999, isbn 0875532454. According to moore, these cases paved the way for american labor rights milestones throughout the 20th century and inevitably led to the creation of the occupational health and safety administration. Kate moores the radium girls catherine wolfe donohue, who suffered radium poisoning at the radium dial company in ottawa, ill. With joey king, abby quinn, cara seymour, scott shepherd.
Another group of women won a lawsuit against the radium dial company in ottawa, illinois that required protective measures for dial painters. The radium girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from. Radium paint was still used in dials as late as the 1960s, but. The book, infuriating for necessary reasons, traces the women at two dialmaking factories the usrc in new jersey, and radiant dial in illinois. Aug 16, 2012 women who worked at radium dial company in ottawa, illinois in the 1930s. Radium corporation was located at the intersection of high and alden streets in orange, new jersey. Radium dial painters were instructed in proper safety precautions and provided with protective gear. The dark story of americas shining women by kate moore just to help get you thinking, if you have a hard time figuring out what you want to say, there are some questions below that i found online. She found two narrowly focused, quasiacademic books about the saga but nothing for general audiences. The book used data from radium dial painters, people who were exposed as a result of the use of radiumcontaining. This story is historical fiction based on true events, of the girls who worked at the radium dial company during the late 1900s and 1920s, who contracted radiation poisoning from painting luminous watch and clock dials with paint containing radium. The author of a new book explores the lives of young factory workers exposed to.
Here she shares some further details of their lives. On august 25, 1959, beatrice workman died of radium poisoning. This blog has been dedicated to the illinois michigan canal and its influence on the development of chicago and the illinois valley. Npr books the incredible true story of the women who fought americas undark danger.
I think the high point in his life was the radium dial case. Martone short story its time is told from the perspective of an unnamed radium girl. The factory of the radium girls is a superfund site. Radium girls stage set design set design theatre ottawa illinois vintage medical theatre costumes atomic age book girl women in history. This book documents the plight of the female workers who, during and after world war i, painted dials of clocks and watches with radium paint.
I spoke to moore about her book and the legacy of the dial painters. It was finally demolished in 1968, when its radiumcontaminated rubble was. The corporations, together with their military contractor, were trying to reduce the damage that had been done. Luminous radium found a place in a dialpainting studios where glowing paint was applied to instrument gauges, clocks, and wristwatches for the usrc united states radium company. By the time this radium study was terminated in 1993, 3,161 radium dial painters had been identified and 1,575 of them had been seen and studied.
Radium girls ad art scenic design women in history book club books serial killers the good old days ottawa historical photos. Deciding to focus on the employers, the united states radium corporation in new jersey and the radium dial company in illinois, moore alternates chapters focusing on more than 15 women employed in newark and a dozen women in ottawa. During world war i, hundreds of young women went to work in clock factories, painting watch dials with. The resulting dials are now collectively known as radium dials. Quickly savvy merchandisers came up with all kinds of miracle products and the radium craze was born. The truth was out, and there was no way to contain it. The radium powder that made their paint luminous, allowing the watch faces and hands to glow in the dark, was expensive. Occasionally, we investigate subjects not directly related to the canal.
The radium girls literally glowed from their workand. The book used data from radium dial painters, people who were exposed as a result of the use of radium containing. I read kate moores book, radium girls and decided to add any information to my library. A new york times, usa today, wall street journal, and amazon charts bestseller. She almost lost me right away by starting out with a lot of tedious stuff about the various committees, government agencies and specialinterest groups involved in deciding where the radium dial painters cases against their employers would lead in the future none of it handled lightly or grippingly, im afraid. The forgotten factory girls killed by radioactive poisoning. The 54yearold park ridge, illinois resident had worked in the 1920s at the ottawa, illinois radium dial company, which hired women to paint watch and clock dials with radiumlaced, glowinthedark paint. Radium dial production peaked in the first decade of the 20th century as radiation poisoning was then unknown. Its owner opened up another radiumdial factory nearby, called luminous processes, which operated until 1978. The case of the living dead women the radium dial case in the newspapers 180 slides.
A partial list of radium victims who worked at waterbury clock company and the years they died, from radium girls. Its an incredible story of courage, friendship, and resilience. Despite the evidence against radium dial, no one was in the mood to hold to account one of the few employers left who had not gone bankrupt. This book started out to be the authors disseration, and it sure reads like one. Radium girls ad art scenic design women in history book club books serial killers the good old days historical photos american history. He called it luminous processes and located it in ottawa, just a few blocks away from radium dial, halm says.
Workers were needed to coat the dials with radium paint, and the best and most efficient. These treatments were strictly for the rich gram for gram, radium was the most expensive substance on earth. The luminous paint used on the dials contained a mixture of phosphorus and radium, a. In the 1920s the radium dial company opened a factory in illinois producing luminous paint made from radium. Radium girls stage set design set design theatre ottawa illinois vintage medical bonnie n clyde theatre costumes atomic age book girl. Radium dials are watch, clock and other instrument dials painted with radioluminescent paint containing radium226. All 173 characters in the radium girls are listed by chapter with character descriptions included. This is repeated in ottawa, illinois when the radium dial company opens a factory.
While the women were taking their case through court, the radium dial company, where they worked, went out of business. I was thrilled by the chance to do just that with this book. When a luminous dial processing company opened in ottawa, illinois. Radium painters at a company social in new jersey, around 1920. Yet the illinois firm, radium dial, took a leaf out of usrcs book and denied responsibility. A novel about the radium dial painters and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. How the radium girls left a legacy of scientific and. Radium corporation was the extraction and purification of radium from carnotite. This website is intended as a companion site to moores book. After glow 90 years ago workers at the waterbury clock. Only the most hard hearted among us could read this book without shedding tears. My father was the lawyer who represented these women and took the case all the way to the supreme court.
Share read this book and over 1 million others with a kindle unlimited membership. The dark story of americas shining women, kate moore tells the story of how these dial painters took on. Theres a reason moore repeatedly notes the girls phosphorescence as ghostly. The radium girls by kate moore is a fascinating account of what went on in these radium dial factories, both in new jersey and small town illinois. The story is told by jo lawrence in her short animated film glow 2007. The case of the living dead women the radium dial case. Revised, june 2003mc450158 history from 1917 to 1926, the u. The curies newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh. Nine women among fourteen plaintiffs seeking compensation from radium dial company for asserted permanent injury suffered as a result of poisoning contracted through work painting radium on watch. Radium halos is not only a fascinating read but also a beautifully written narrative based on young women employed by the radium dial company in the 1920s, to paint dials on watches and clocks with luminescent radium paint.
The forgotten story of the radium girls, whose deaths saved thousands of workers lives. Radium dials president, joseph kelly, was ousted in 1934. The book covers the processes used in the factories, some rather gruesome details about the effects the women with radium poisoning suffered, and the legal battles that followed in order to. Click for the original image radium girls, book girl. To this website, which celebrates the radium girls. The radium girls literally glowed from their workand then it started killing them. The dark story of americas shining women by kate moore is a 2017 sourcebooks publication. In a new book, the radium girls, the british author kate moore tells the. Five women in illinois who were employees of the radium dial company which was unaffiliated with the united.
The radium girls characters listed with descriptions. The forgotten story of the radium girls, whose deaths saved thousands of lives. After the discovery of radium in 1898 by the curies, it was looked on as a most wonderful thing. Although the firms medical tests proved that the illinois women were showing clear symptoms of. The city of ottawa, il is about 80 miles southwest of chicago.