Having finished the last chapter of the book “The Radium Girls”, I was astonished by the stories that occurred in the 1920s in the radium industry. How come those stories were never brought to my sight in the past? Neither did any of my friends or family mention this in the past conversations. But it was such a powerful story that I would urge everyone who cares about the world, life, and justice to read and reflect upon.
The author Kate Moore depicted vividly one after another the lives of young and pretty American girls in their teens and twenties who joined the watch studios as dial-painters. They were energetic, cheerful with infinite hope to their bright future. And yet, after a couple of years (and some even months) of working and living with radium powders, they started to feel sick. Their teeth became loose, the jaw bone became fragile, and pains rambled over everywhere. Some quitted jobs and stayed home, hoping things would get better. And they didn’t. A scandal of radium poisoning gradually emerged from the water. However, the business owners abused their power and reputation and denied the risk and damage this radioactive matter caused to those young bodies. They put up advertisement on benefits of radium to attract more young souls to work for them, they hid away the victims’ jawbones at autopsies that could point to what they had done to the girls, and they hired lawyers and doctors who had more greed for money than ethics to flip black and white and cover up the crimes.
I almost burst into tears when I saw those brave girls — some were too sick to walk, some were crippled, some with legs or arms amputated — finally stood up and united to fight with this humongous and evil industry. The path to success was never easy, and their fight for justice was even so. Higher up figures refused to help due to their interconnection with the radium industry, most lawyers turned away their requests for fear of getting cut off their business tie, and the rest single digits of lawyers who were willing to represent eventually threw the white flag given the long haul.
But with perseverance, there’s always hope. A handful of doctors, dentists and lawyers risked their reputation and even life to defend for the girls. It took decades, long enough that it couldn’t grant Catherine, one of the fighters of this course and a critical person to the win of the lawsuit, a living body to witness the final triumph.
It was a rough read, as the author led us through the heartbreaking moments of the girls, their families, and all other people who cared about them. I almost dropped the read halfway as I was so depressed about the pitiful lives of the girls and frustrated by the ignorance of the business owners.
Gladly the impacts of those girls didn’t end there, when they won the legal case in the court. New law was established to protect the workers, and new enforcement was imposed to the industries that dealt with radioactive chemicals, including the nuclear industry.
But their personal stories were never carefully revisited since. And I’m really glad Moore let their voice heard by the world, even though it was decades after.
SweetS 