The case of the radium girls would also have an impact on establishing strict guidelines for worker safety and compensation beyond the Manhattan Project. “The Department of Labor was pro-business,’’ Moore notes. The company also was paying better than anywhere else in town — and, best of all, it gave the area’s working-class young women access to its coveted radium. Quietly tucked into a tree-lined residential neighborhood, it has been renamed High & Alden Street Park and features a playground — perhaps a fitting tribute to the young lives lost. There were super luxe, high-end radium “spas” where the rich and famous shelled out big bucks to cleanse and rejuvenate themselves with radium’s reputed magical, healthful effects. Their hair, faces, hands, arms, necks, the dresses, the underclothes, even the corsets of the dial painters were luminous. Fryer asked her manager about von Sochocky’s warning. Radium watches would continue to be manufactured until 1968, although the safety regulations were drastically improved. What the radium girls suffered in real life far exceeds what you'll see in the movie, as it focuses more on the dramatic aspects than the horrific deformities the women suffered. James Leake, a US Public Health Service official, commended the move to guarantee workers’ safety. Schaub and dozens of other girls flocked to the factory, which was opened in Newark before the nearby Orange site was established and they transferred over. Etta and Walt are boots on the ground anarchists, which doesn't exactly come into play with the overarching story of the radium girls, but it plays well in 2020 as it brushes against police brutality of the time, reminding us that the right for equal treatment by our protectors has a very long history. In desperate need of money, they would eventually settle for $10,000 each and a $600 annual payment, although none of them would survive more than two years after the settlement. I hope it doesn’t harm them.”. Managers at the plant, presumably aware of at least some of the danger, tried several times to stop the lip-pointing, but told the girls it must be done because the other methods wasted too much of the precious paint. King's Bessie is a young woman with a big heart and dreams of escaping her small town existence. The corporation set up its factories in New Jersey and recruited dozens of young women to paint the watch dials. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film. This is a time in our country and our world that I haven't spent a lot of time exploring, and this story, which led to lasting changes in workplace safety, shows that there is a lot to learn by spending a little time here. They were given $10,000 each and $600 a year for each year they lived, plus damages for their medical bills. Then Irene Rudolph. In 1903, the Reno (Nev.) Gazette-Journal wrote that radium might have the power to turn metal into gold — and lead to communication between planets. “Do not do that,” he said to her not once but twice, Moore writes. Evidence came from beyond the grave. When they left work, they literally glowed in the night from the radium powder on their bodies. It is estimated that by the 1920s as many as 4,000 workers were hired at companies across the United States and Canada to paint radium dials. The back of another was luminous almost to the waist.”. By attending some Communist meetings with him, Joe begins to see the power of speaking up and standing firm in your beliefs. So our procedures were patterned after that.”. Katherine Schaub was 14 years old when she first heard about the Radium Luminous Materials Corp., which had just opened up in her neighborhood of Newark around 1917, according to Kate Moore’s book, “The Radium Girls.”. Ageless icon Pharrell is launching his own skincare line, Cheryl Burke addresses Gleb Savchenko and Chrishell Stause rumors, Hugh Grant recalls COVID-19 battle: My eyeballs felt three sizes too big, Increasingly Unhinged Stephen Colbert Angrily Smashes A Champagne Bottle On 'The Late Show', © 2020 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Facebook extends ban on US political ads for another month, Trump makes first public appearance since election to pay Veterans Day respects, Georgia announces hand recount of ballots cast in presidential race, Biden's popular vote lead over Trump grows to more than 5 million, Trump wins Alaska and its three electoral college votes, 25 best early Black Friday 2020 deals you can already shop, A primer on Singles' Day shopping and 2020's best 11/11 deals, Apple AirPods Pro are $55 off on Amazon — the lowest price ever, B&H takes up to 45 percent off MacBooks, iPads and more for holiday deals, Drunk driver does 16 donuts, then falls out of car, Jason Momoa says he was 'completely in debt' after 'Game of Thrones'. Thanks for contacting us. Louis Hempelmann, a doctor at Los Alamos, recalled how Manhattan Project safety regulations were also based on those of the radium dial factories, which were much improved by this time. Tour some of the key locations of the Manhattan Project with an audio guide. They painted their nails, lips and hair with radium. “Under state law, it had no authority to stop an industrial process, even if it was harmful.”, After a brief investigation, government officials gave the plant a “clean bill of health.”. Five of the dying girls filed suit against the company — which by then had been renamed the United States Radium Corp. — in 1927, asking for $250,000 each. 193,875, This story has been shared 138,089 times. I was horror-stricken,” Fryer said. Once told of the story, residents are sympathetic to its doomed workers’ plight — but then wonder in the same breath if the old site is safe for them and their kids. The boss in charge told the girls, “It wasn’t dangerous” and they “didn’t need to be afraid.”. Does Radium Girls represent the spirit of the story? “The first thing we asked [was], ‘Does this stuff hurt you?’ And they said, ‘No,’ ” Cubberley recalled. Your Ad Choices Terms of Use The most famous incident is the "Radium Girls" of Orange, New Jersey where a large number of workers got radiation poisoning. Based on a true story, this film tells the tragic young women who painted radium onto watch dials until their bodies literally crumbled from the inside because hey, it turns out radium isn't great for you. You know Minifie from The Boys, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Fear the Walking Dead, and she's a strong addition to this cast, offering a little perspective for doing the right thing when it initially seems do difficult to Jo and Bessie. In the early 1920s, workers’ rights were virtually nonexistent. 351,194, This story has been shared 193,875 times. Then Catherine O’Donnell. Radium Girls follows the story of young women in failing health who rise up against the American Radium Factory, exposing their lies in the hope that others wouldn't fall prey to the same practice.
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