Book Report #197 - The Radium Girls

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore

In the Roaring Twenties, there were lucky girls who were paid handsomely to paint radium onto watch dials. They were called the dial-painters. They went to work in the beautiful dresses they bought with their generous wages. They dipped their brushes in radium paint, put the brushes in their mouths to make the bristles into a point, and then painted carefully. They were paid per watch and each one was examined thoroughly so they wanted to work quickly but accurately.

It took a few years before the first dial-painter watched her tooth fall out and the wound never heal. How quickly it went: the girls started experiencing terrible pain all over their bodies, and helplessly watched their teeth fall out. Some even had their jawbones come out in their hands.

It was the radium. The radium that everyone was so convinced was healthy. These girls were lucky to work with it, and they were beautiful as their dresses and hair shone in the dark while they walked home from work. At least, that's what their company would have them believe.

The way they could suffer was horrific; their bones decaying right in their bodies. I can barely even bring myself to think about it. It took some time before doctors could put together that it was radium poisoning because there had never been radium poisoning before! But the radium companies fought these girls tooth and nail, insisting they were wrong. They insisted that the girls didn't get sick because of anything work-related. The way they could lie and cheat was hard to stomach. It became clear they were essentially getting away with murder.

I was surprised at how glued to the book I was when it was so sad, and on the surface, could seem repetitive. Every new piece of information was a revelation. Every girl I read about was a separate and important case. I cared about them so much, and I think I always will. What they managed to accomplish in court helps protect us today. We owe them so much gratitude.

General consensus: Shocking, and left me emotionally gutted. But such an important read!