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

Catherine Wolfe Donahue. Charlotte Purcell. Grace Fryer. Pearl Payne. Mollie Maggia. To most of the world, these names mean nothing. But they are the names of some of the most important people to ever live. These women are responsible for most of what science knows about radioactive materials today. These women were lied to, deceived, tricked and ultimately, murdered by the companies they worked for. Companies who told them repeatedly that the radium they were saturating their bodies with was harmless. Who told them that not only was it harmless, but it would actually put a spring in their steps and roses in their cheeks.

The story of the dial-painters of the early 1900’s is truly one of the most inspiring, incredible, sad and infuriating stories I’ve ever had the pleasure of coming across. These women gave their lives in service to their country and were repaid by being denied justice over and over and over again.

With the discovery of the element radium in the last years of the 1800’s only a handful of people across the globe fully understood its destructive power. Unfortunately, these people lived mainly in Europe. So when the United States Radium Corporation opened its doors in the early 1910’s, all the way across the world in Orange, New Jersey, no one thought anything of their practice of using radium-based paint to illuminate the numbers and dials on watches and various military parts. In fact, dial-painting (as the profession came to be known) was one of the most sought after jobs available to young women at the time. And the companies wanted as many as they could get.

But when the women began to get sick, there was no evidence to suggest that their jobs had anything to do with it. Women started losing their teeth, growing masses on their bones, growing anemic and eventually dying. But it wasn’t until the women began taking matters into their own hands that they were able to force the world to acknowledge the dangers associated with the use of radioactive materials. But this fight was far from easy. The companies that employed these women fought tooth-and-nail to deny any wrong-doing. Admitting to the outright lies they told these young women would mean taking the blame for their deaths and losing millions of dollars in profits. But the women persisted. And because of them, our world looks the way it does. Without them, there would be no nuclear energy, there would have been no Manhattan Project and more than likely, millions of people would have died from radiation poisoning. These women shaped the course of history in a remarkable way and yet, their story remains largely untold.

The Radium Girls is a compelling, heartbreaking story of resilience and grace and is highly recommended. While I could continue writing about the scientific and legal ramifications of what these women fought for and endured, I'll leave the rest to you.

Rating: 5 out of 5 (While it reads almost too much like a research paper, the story absolutely makes up for it.)