The story of the Radium Girls has to be one of the biggest tragedies in the history of the United States. Yet, not many people know about the horrifying events which had ended the lives of dozens of girls during World War I.
Labor laws were basically nonexistent then and female voices were often left unheard. Here is a story of a corporation that seemed unbeatable and the women-led fight against them to protect the health and lives of others. This story might be one of suffering, but it is also one of resilience!
A Corporation With One Thing In Mind - Money
After Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium, opportunities to use it for different purposes arose, and that’s how the United States Radium Corporation (USRC) was born. The luminescent element could be useful for many things, including making watches that glowed in the dark.
Those timepieces were deemed useful for military men that were fighting in World War I. Later on, USRC would prove that their priority was not its workers but to protect their money by doing whatever they thought was necessary—even if it meant covering up deaths. Labor unions and laws that protected workers didn't even exist at the time.
An Elite Job For Young Women
The dials needed to be painted to make the clocks luminescent, so the USRC hired young girls with small hands to do this easily. The technique they were instructed to use included rolling the tip of their pencil with their mouth, which meant that they ingested a tiny amount of radium every time they did it.
The paycheck was extremely good, and this was considered an elite job that gave these girls the financial freedom that not many women had at that time. Workers would spread the word to their siblings and friends. So, they often worked alongside each other while they unknowingly poisoned themselves.
Radium - The New "Miracle Cure" For Everything!
The thing was, like the rest of the world, the USRC thought that small amounts of radium were actually beneficial for people. After all, the element was being put on everything from makeup to milk. It was even recommended as a tonic to drink with water.
There were also radium mines where people who wanted to be healthy could go and get a dose of it. Radium was the new miracle cure that was useful for any and every imaginable purpose. With that much merchandise and publicity, no one expected the tragic consequences this job would have for these very young girls.
Exposure To Small Amounts Was Just Fine
Marie and Pierre Curie had reported about the dangers of radium when they handled it in huge amounts. This was why the men that worked with great quantities of the element at USRC would wear protective gear - they didn’t want to have any direct contact with it.
Meanwhile, with the belief that it was actually beneficial for health in small quantities, the girls were left unprotected while they were dealing with radium paint that didn’t have large radium content. If you were to ask a doctor at that time, he would’ve said that there was no danger. On the contrary, most likely.
The Radium Girls Used It As Cosmetics To Impress The Boys
The girls became known as the Radium Girls because, at night when they left the factory, they glowed. Furthermore, they would put it on their hair, nails, and even their teeth in order to have a glowing smile. They would do so especially when there was going to be a party or a celebration.
These girls wanted to draw attention and look prettier for the boys. What they didn’t know was that all of this extra radium would only speed up and increase their chances of getting sick - and that this was about to happen soon.
Patient Zero - Mollie Maggia. One Down, Many More To Come
For Molly, it all started with a trip to the dentist for an aching tooth that had to be taken out. But soon after that, the same thing happened to the tooth next to that one. Later, her jaw started to ache, and as the dentist went to explore it, it broke under his fingers.
Before long, Molly had lost her jaw and infection spread through her entire face. Mere months later, she was hospitalized. As the infection destroyed her neck, she suffered a hemorrhage that ended her life when she was only 24 years old. By this time, some of her co-workers were starting to show symptoms as well.
USRC Investigates But Results Are Not In Their Favor - So They Bury the Truth
The girls began to connect their illness and what had happened to Molly, along with the others, to their work. The word spread, but USRC denied any relation to it. Since no one wanted to work for the company, they hired a researcher with high education to prove that radium had nothing to do with the girls’ ailments and deaths.
The independent investigation found that there was an association between the two things. However, these results were not accepted. USRC hired other people that would write what they wanted. They were entering a dark path just to stay in business, and that path was only going to get worse.
Lies Upon Lies, Bills Upon Bills
USRC published only the reports that favored them and assured the public that it was safe to work in their factory. The company also accused the girls of trying to take advantage of them by making them accountable for the medical billing that resulted from their diseases.
Furthermore, the girls were ignored for the most part, as no one wanted to take their case on due to the immense power of the company they were facing and the lack of precedent. Of course, there were no labor laws that existed at the time, and hardly any awareness regarding the well-being of employees.
Glowing To Their Graves - But Not In Vain
Given the fact that the radium residues take more than 1,000 years to disappear, the Radium Girls glowed their way directly into their graves and even after. It might sound morbid, but it’s possible that their remains are still glowing at night even after all these years due to the ingestion of the deadly element.
And even though they’re not celebrated or remembered as they should, their fight was not in vain. They had a huge impact on the current working laws and saved millions of lives because of their courage to speak up against a cruel and money-consumed company.
Only When A Man Died - Things Were Taken Seriously
Things had only changed when a man that worked at the factory died in a way evocative of the symptoms that the girls had been presenting. Doctor Harrison Martland started to research the changes that took place due to the close contact with radium. According to his findings, exposure to radium could cause external injuries.
Marie Curie, who suffered several burns herself, also reported about this. However, as Martland explained, ingesting the radium could have even graver consequences. The internal organs and bones affected by the element, when deposited in the tissues, could gradually destroy it. Furthermore, no treatment could remove radium.
Fighting To Stop Calamity
The girls knew their fates were sealed. And despite everything, there were still many more factories in the United States using the same system in order to produce these watches. If they didn’t say anything, who knew how many more would have gotten sick and would have eventually died due to this terrible practice?
Their fight was definitely a hard one, and they had difficulty finding an attorney that would represent them. So, how did they get things rolling? One of the women who had been affected was equipped since her childhood to make her rights heard, lead the battle.
A Leader Emerges
Grace Fryer had been one of the Radium Girls. Her spine had been practically crushed, so she had to use a steel brace just to stand up. Grace’s father was a union delegate, and she had learned a lot from him about fighting for the rights of people.
After a lot of rejection, she finally found a man that would help them bring their case to court. His name was Raymond Berry, and together, they were all going to do everything possible to get justice for the girls and prevent it from happening to anyone else.
The World Must Know!
The case garnered a lot of publicity. After all, radium was considered safe until that very moment. Imagine, thousands of products were being sold every day that contained this chemical. This trial called to attention the need for more studies to determine the extent of the damage caused by its use.
Furthermore, the workers of radium companies all around the country got informed, and they were alarmed to realize that this was affecting them as well. Grace and her co-workers eventually reached a lawsuit settlement, but the job had been done. All over the United States, actions were being taken.
The Illinois Cover-up
The research kicked off at Radium Dial, an Illinois company where women who found out about what had happened to the girls from New Jersey had triggered the alarm on the subject. But instead of stepping up and worrying about keeping their workers healthy, the company lied about the results of the studies.
Then, Radium Dial went several steps further than what they previously did. They hired people to steal the remains of the girls that had worked for them and died from radium poisoning. One of the girls from Radium Dial, Catherine Donohue, raised her voice against them.
A Deathbed Testimony
Catherine had to face a tumor that was growing on her hip, the loss of her teeth and mandible, and the rejection of society. Given that the country was in the middle of the Great Depression, people couldn’t believe that she would attack one of the few companies that stayed in business.
The woman’s disease was severe, and she had to testify from her deathbed as cancer consumed her. Despite all these, she gathered enough strength to speak for herself and for all of her friends and co-workers that had already passed away.
No More Radium
In 1938, radium was officially banned from going into any type of packaged item, and no radium paint was ever used again. It had finally stopped being something that was considered as part of someone’s daily nutrition. However, the total ban of using radium in machines and the like didn’t happen until over three decades later.
It was in 1970 when the use of radium was finally eliminated from commercial products entirely. Meanwhile, in Europe and in other continents, these measures were not taken. And so, the use of radium continued to appear for a few more years.
Labor Protection Laws Are Born
What happened at the USRC was the catalyst for the creation of protection laws for workers that would actually be enforced later on. This was how the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was born. It is estimated that thousands of lives are saved every year, thanks to the rules and norms that they impose.
However, there are still thousands of work-related deaths that are reported every year, mostly due to work-related accidents—something that needs to be addressed. Before the Radium Girls, the concept of worker’s rights was a rarity and company accountability was practically non-existent.
Remembering The Fallen
You would think that a story like that of the Radium Girls would be well-known, but it’s not. This inspiring tale of resilience and fighting despite having their days counted, had a long-lasting effect on the American legislation, allowing new laws to be created.
Despite this, not that much is known about the story, and most of the names of these girls have been forgotten. Although a few books have been published, with the most recent one being The Radium Girls by Kate Moore. In it, Moore makes a warning that’s connected to the present day.
A Cautionary Tale For Corporate Greed
As Moore puts it, this could be the perfect cautionary tale that we’re just not paying any attention to. Just as back in the day, they thought radium was actually good for you, there might be something now that could have lasting consequences which won’t immediately show.
We should take the example of these women to evaluate our current approach towards products that corporations are all too eager to sell us, harm notwithstanding. By first determining how safe they are for the society, then we won’t ever have to follow the path of the noble but tragic lives of the Radium Girls.