This year, many of my students are writing historical research papers about Strong Women: Frida Kahlo, Rosa Parks, Amelia Earhart, Marilyn Monroe. Samantha’s search for an interesting subject led her to a group of young women factory workers in the 1920s who stood up to an industrial powerhouse. They were called the “Radium Girls.” They painted the numbers on watches in a glow-in-the-dark paint made with toxic chemicals. Desperate to keep their jobs, they did anything and everything they were told to do – including licking their brushes between each stroke. Samantha reports of the horrible consequences and the tremendous courage of these to take on American Radium in court.
Radium Girls: Those Who Glow in Death
In the film Radium Girls women decided to sue the company and ban the use or production of radium. These women were being lied to and gaslit about a product that shortened their lives. And even after the real information was brought to light, the radium company denied any knowledge even though they had plenty of hidden research about the dangers of radium. At first,radium had been used to cure cancer patients with the radiation it contained. As time passed, people used radium as a health benefit and regularly used it for everyday products such as face cream and toothpaste. The Radium Girls painted wristwatches every day to make the dials glow and made a cent for each dial. However, people ended up overstimulating their bodies to the radium which caused irregular blood tests. Radium had many different types of symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, bloody vomit, anemia, cancer, cataracts, abscesses in the mouth, and reduced bone growth. Even after many women had come forward about their illness and how radium affected them, people either did not believe what they said or did not care enough to help them. They couldn’t leave their jobs because they would end up with no money. They were stuck between doing what’s best for their family and doing what’s best for their livelihood. The Radium Girls have been glossed over in America’s labor history after so many people had been affected by radium. It’s important for people to know about this awful moment in history so that it doesn’t happen again and no one is left unheard.
In the 1900s, radium had been discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie. It was used to cure cancer patients and was given to the public as a miracle medicine. People were enamored by the beautiful glow radium had used it to “lighten up” their lives. The radium companies used radium to make the dials on wristwatches glow in the dark. Most of the workers were female and were exposed to radium every day for two decades. In the 1920s, these female workers became ill due to the radium they had ingested and died after a couple of years. Catherine Donohue, a former radium worker, fought for a full decade until radium was finally banned. At Catherine’s funeral, the girls that worked with her and also had radium poisoning said their last goodbyes. David
Robson remarks, “The scene brought to mind the words of ancient gladiators in glorious Rome: Moritamor te salutamus - we who are about to die salute you,"(Daily Express). This last message holds a greater meaning when read with a different mindset. These women had been suffering for many years with no solution to their illness. Many doctors had misdiagnosed embarrassing diseases to shame them or to keep women quiet. After so many years of neglect, they were finally being heard thanks to Catherine Donohue’s devotion to banning radium. In their final years of life, they salute the one person listening to their pain.
What did the Radium Girls suffer through when they were poisoned? Why did the Radium companies try to cover it up? During the 1920s, money was very hard to come by and radium companies made a lot of money thanks to the element radium. When the female employees first discovered their illnesses, their beginning symptoms were dizziness, bloody vomit, hair loss, and fatigue. These symptoms began to worsen and would shortly pass away. At first, doctors believed the cause to be the phosphorus in the mixture but they found no phosphorus in their bodies. Although these women became incredibly ill with terrible symptoms of radium poisoning, the companies they worked for denied the accusations in order to avoid lawsuits and bankruptcy.
- To read Samantha's complete research paper, please click on the following link: Radium Girls.
- To learn more about the "The Messed Up Truth About The Radium Girls," please click on the following video:
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In this first section of Friends of the Earth,
students take the time to introduce themselves through their reading.
Instead of the brief mention of their hobbies and pets, they reflect on
a memorable literary experience. You might not judge a book by its cover, but here we learn
what is often hidden inside of others.
A very interesting movie. It's difficult to imagine how little we knew about science a couple of decades ago.
Posted by: Lab analyzers | 05/19/2022 at 05:01 AM