Radium Girls
🕑 Added 2021-01-31 19:37:16 +0000 UTCI was flipping through Netflix and saw the movie Radium Girls. I realized that years ago I had visited this Radium Girls museum. I think it was in Ottowa Iowa.
The museum was incredible! I was immediately obsessed. Jeremy took me there on a day date and we learned so much. I could envision the details with the vast history in there. I was surprised to see so much on the topic. It was a true museum adventure.
“The Radium Girls were factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with glow-in-the-dark paint. The women, who had been told the paint was harmless, ingested deadly amounts of radium by licking their paintbrushes to sharpen them.
The company started on the east coast in a New Jersey town. Five of the women challenged their employer in a case that established the right of individual workers who contract occupational diseases to sue their employers. After the settlement the company closed and moved its operation to Ottawa under a new name. A similar case would follow as employees fell ill.
The Radium Girls saga holds an important place in the history of both the field of health physics and the labor rights movement. The right of individual workers to sue for damages from corporations due to labor abuse was established as a result of the Radium Girls case. In the wake of the case, industrial safety standards were demonstrably enhanced for many decades.
The new Jersey case was settled in the fall of 1928, before the trial deliberated by the jury, and the settlement for each of the Radium Girls was $10, 000 ($135,349 in today’s terms) and a $600 per year annuity ($8,121 per term year in today’s terms) while they loved and all medical and legal expenses incurred would also be paid by the company.
The lawsuit and resulting publicity was a factor in the establishment of occupational disease labor law. Radium dial painters were instructed in proper safety precautions and provided with protective gear; in particular, they no longer shaped paint brushes by lip, and avoided ingesting or breathing the paint. Radium paint was still used in dials as late as the 1960’s, but there were no further injuries to dial painters. This served to highlight that the injuries suffered by the Radium Girls were completely preventable.”
Anyhow, check out the movie on Netflix and maybe the museum🎉
https://pickusottawail.com/attractions/name/radium-dial-memorial/
Comments
Jose Rivera
So true. I am always trying to help others understand with my experiences and encourage research. Knowledge is power.
Danielle Colby Striptease Historian
I bet! Travel opens our eyes doesn’t it?
Danielle Colby Striptease Historian
Pussies are strong yet inviting, i would say it’s a compliment 💗🥂💗
Jose Rivera
Interesting information. While in the military I saw cases on other countries that would be outrageous here.
Anya Twerk
Thank you for sharing ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Chris Carty
I’ve known about this but have not thought about it in a while. The photos are a great reminder of what happened and what the women went through. I have realized from an early age just how tough and what women have gone through in the planets history. As a man, I can say I’m glad some things are changing but more can be done on their behalf and I can still be manly. Some men call me a pussy. I say no, but you’re definitely a ballsack! Those are weak as shit!😀
Matthew Affinito
Lived in NJ all my life...had no idea. Definitely will be checking out the documentary
Steven Malc
It's worth noting that the luminous paint used on modern watches is not radioactive at all...
Kim Rice
To be honest, I always thought the Radium Girls were the ladies that worked at Oak Ridge during WWII. 🤷♀️
