Radium Girls

Discovery of New Element

Radium

-In 1898, French scientists Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium.

-Radium was considered a cure-all element and became a highly sought-after

-The harmful effects of Radium exposure weren't fully known by the general pubic

World War 1

Work Condions

-World War I stimulated demand for radium luminous watches

-By 1918, the vast majority of all radium was used for military dial

- Dial watches allowed soldiers to tell time while in the dark trenches

-Everything in their workplace became a source of radiation. They were covered with radium residue throughout the day

-Many of them painted their clothes, fingernails, and even their teeth with radium paint because they enjoyed its glow-in-the-dark appearance.

- Due to the factory’s poor ventilation system, radium-contaminated dust coated all equipment, furniture, and even the air that they breathed

Work Place

Birth

- Since the watch faces were extremely small, employees hired for the job were women who had smaller fingers

These women were instructed to sharpen the tips of their paintbrushes between their lips, a method as “lip-dipping,”

- Women were paid by the number of watches, not by the hour, thus exposing themselves to even more radium with each watch

Watch Dials

Radiation Sickness

Sickness

- 1921, dentists were the first to see symptoms such as toothaches, mouth sores, pain in the gums, etc.

- Doctor visits became more frequent and extreme as

they faced terrific pain and loss of their limbs. Illnesses aroused and doctors were not able to explain.

- Leg and hip pain were common problems, as well as

bone cancers, and spontaneous bone fratures

-Each of these symptoms took years to fully present, also recognized as stochastic effects of radiation

- Bones showed tiny holes from the radium killing off bone tissue

Factory Negligence

Negligence

- As more women began to suffer, doctors and dentists began to question the safety of radium and suggested a connection to the radium dial painting

-U.S. Radium Corporation commissioned a team from Harvard University comprised of industrial health experts to investigate the effects of radium on employees.

- 1 year later experts Dr. Cecil Drinker, Dr. Katherine Drinker, and Dr. William Castle concluded not only that radium was unsafe, but caused major health defects

- Instead of taking these findings as an opportunity to provide better protection for the workers, the U.S. Radium Corporation, threatened to sue the health experts if they reported their findings to the Department of Labor

First Radium Girls

Lawsuits

-First Radium Girls Lawsuit began on May 18th, 1927, against

the United States Radium Corporation in Orange, New Jersey.

- First 5 womencame together with the help of lawyer Raymond Berry

- Berry was the first lawyer to agree to take their case after two years of searching for representation

-It took so long to find a lawyer because the odds were against them: they did not qualify under workman's compensation AND they had passed the statute of limitations on occupational diseases

-Berry argued that the USRC had a common-law duty to

provide a safe workplace for their employees, and they

had breached that duty

- While the verdict of the case

may not be considered a success, the

outcome tells a different story

- Radium's dangers were becoming more well-known and more workers, as well as the public were demanding safer conditions

- In 1937, another 5 Radium Girls sued the Radium Dial company in Illinois, and this time, they won!

- This landmark case determined that companies had a responsiblity to the safety of their employees, and was the FIRST case in the United States where an employer was held accountable for their employee's health

- We owe today's workplace safety protocols to the Radium Girls!

Outcome