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    The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
    The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
    The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
    Audiobook15 hours

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

    Written by Kate Moore

    Narrated by Angela Brazil

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    1917. As a war raged across the world, young American women flocked to work, painting watches, clocks and military dials with a special luminous substance made from radium. It was a fun job, lucrative and glamorous-the girls themselves shone brightly in the dark, covered head to toe in the dust from the paint. They were the radium girls.
    As the years passed, the women began to suffer from mysterious and crippling illnesses. The very thing that had made them feel alive-their work-was in fact slowly killing them: they had been poisoned by the radium paint. Yet their employers denied all responsibility. And so, in the face of unimaginable suffering-in the face of death-these courageous women refused to accept their fate quietly, and instead became determined to fight for justice.
    Drawing on previously unpublished sources-including diaries, letters, and court transcripts, as well as original interviews with the women's relatives-The Radium Girls is an intimate narrative account of an unforgettable true story. It is the powerful tale of a group of ordinary women from the Roaring Twenties, who themselves learned how to roar.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateMay 2, 2017
    ISBN9781681684222
    The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
    Author

    Kate Moore

    Kate Moore studied Modern History at the University of Cape Town and completed a Masters in the same subject at Oxford University, where her final thesis was on the Battle of Britain. She has an interest in all periods of history but her first love will always be the key events of 1940. Based in the Osprey Head Office, Kate is the Publisher for the General Military list.

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    Reviews for The Radium Girls

    4/5

    1,118 ratings125 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      A must read book for anyone who desires to learn from history.
    • 5/5
      A heartbreaking and harrowing narrative of how big business conspired to kill females beginning in the 1910's. In several town in America, young females were hired to paint radium dials on watches and clocks, unaware of the dangers of radium on their bodies. The companies knew, even to the point of testing many of them, denying the women their own results and even went so far a to falsely claim that nothing harmful was found in their bodies.This did result, many years and deaths later, into enactment of better laws and the establishment of strict workplace safety regulations, but not before these women suffered unimaginable suffering and indignity.You won't read this book for the writing; however, you must read this book as an early example of industry taking advantage of innocent, minimum wage workers and putting innocent people at risk. Many years late, in 1991, the EPA ordered some of these business to "clean up" the sites where these factories stood, but only after these these radium-contaminated sites were found to cause increased incidents of cancer in those areas.
    • 5/5
      It is not often that I cry while listening to audiobooks but this one had me welling up with tears multiple times. This story is both tragic and profound. It is hard to believe that these women suffered as they did and yet this goes to show just how little women were valued during that time. I highly recommend this book and will be singing its praises for the foreseeable future.
    • 5/5
      A heartbreaking, true story of these women using radium to help make watch dials and other items.
    • 5/5
      The only book of history I've ever read that made me cry more than once during it's journey. I've found myself emotional in the face of other tales of hardship, but this story - a true story - takes the cake for pure selfless courage in the face of horrifying pain and truly villainous opponents. We are indebted to these women, who fought not for their own safety, but for justice and the safety of others.
    • 4/5
      Harrowing, horrific, and fascinating. Told in a lot of their own words, too. Very interesting.
    • 4/5
      I understand the author’s point in humanizing and detailing each of the girls and she does so to resounding effect, but I wish there were just a little less of that. Otherwise a fantastic book and extremely compelling story.
    • 5/5
      Intriguing as well as heartbreaking. So many lives lost because a company just didn't care about anything but making a profit. My heart hurts for the tragic lives lost to being exposed to Radium. Highly recommend!
    • 3/5
      Such a sad thing that happened to these poor women. I unfortunately only made it 45% of the audiobook. It seemed to drag on with the same (unfortunate) stories that all the dial painters went through. It would have been better as a story then (like other reviewer's have also written) what seemed like a news article.
    • 5/5
      A tragic page in American history told with sensitivity for those who participated in the events. The names of the women whose stories are recounted here will never appear in history books, yet their contribution to our wellbeing is incalculable. Very well written. This author has earned a place in my to be followed list
    • 5/5
      So good. What an eye opener. This should be mandatory reading in school.
    • 5/5
      Excellent! I feel like I felt the girls pain and it was very moving.
    • 5/5
      What a breathtaking read! I grew up hearing these woman’s stories from my mother, and always wanted to know more. More about the company and more importantly, the stories of the women themselves.
      This book is an incredible read, bringing to life the stories of the women at the heart of the disaster. We get to know so many of them, their family, their hopes and dreams, and share in their horror and pain as their dreams are ripped away from them, and their bodies fail.
      Even more horrific, is hearing how the company mishandled the entire situation, covering up their wrong doing and actively fighting to rip what remaining humanity these amazing women had.
      An achingly beautiful book about the indomitable spirit of done remarkable women, offset by corporate negligence and greed, and how this story shaped our collective future. Highly recommended!
    • 4/5
      This is a great book. Haunting. Sad. Unbelievable. I knew nothing about radium painting or the girls who suffered the consequences. I feel a little but smarter. I think everyone should be aware of this so something like this never happens again.
    • 3/5
      The Curies discovered radium in the late 19th Century. Although they noticed that the element had destructive properties, they and other scientists extolled its virtues to the degree that it was deemed perfectly safe. In the years before WWI, women in factories painted watch dials with radium. They used no protection because the factory bosses said it was perfectly safe. After all, it was used to kill cancer, so it must be healthy. So the young women painted their watch dials, keeping their paintbrushes to a point, by sucking them between their teeth. This was the standard practice for years and when women started exhibiting problems with their teeth, no one made the connection between their work with radium and their illnesses. This book follows the fates of these women in a very approachable way, making their stories personal. Moore used diaries, court transcripts, and letters, among other sources to create a vivid picture of the women who fought against corporate irresponsibility and won. I enjoyed the intimate portrait of the women involved and their lives, and it is always wonderful and important to highlight forgotten parts of history such as this. However, I will warn the reader that some of the descriptions of the women’s physical afflictions are on the graphic side.
    • 5/5
      The radium girls by kate moore
      (Scribd)
      The true story of the women who worked in a factory that used radium to make watch dials glow. Part of their job required them to put the paintbrush in their mouths to make the bristles on the brush have a fine point. Nearly all the girls developed horrific radium poisoning and they literally fought to their last breath to bring the company to justice and make them not only accountable but ensure a safe work environment for all.
      This book is well researched. Highly recommend



    • 1/5
      Such a bore!!!! Despite the importance of the topic. Do not waste your time.
    • 5/5
      Wow. Just, wow. Every word paints a picture. This book is written in a way that takes you by the hand and allows you to walk with these girls through their hopes and dreams, and tragedies. I couldn’t stop listening.
    • 5/5
      Terrible what the women went through. I tried very hard to fight back tries while reading this.
    • 5/5
      I’d heard the story on the internet but the book was recommended to me so read it anyways. Much better than expected and better than just knowing about the story of the radium girls. Powerful and sad.
    • 4/5
      An important and fascinating story that suffered from flawed writing.
    • 5/5
      This book was riveting and important to read. It was very well researched. Thank you for your thoughtful work that informed me of the wonderful work of the girls who disclosed such awful company behavior.
    • 4/5
      Damn that was a well written story of another effed up thing in American history. So glad my friend recommended this to me!
    • 4/5
      Good story which was unbelievable of all those girls went through
      However gave it 4 stars due to being so long too many girls with more of same things happening to them
    • 5/5
      Oh my goodness ? if you don’t read this you will never read the best book EVER, I can’t even describe how amazing it was so READ IT NOW AND YOU WILL KNOW WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT! ?
    • 2/5
      The story was interesting and important but wow this was so much longer than it needed to be.
    • 5/5
      If you want to know why I am a union advocate, read this. First of all, these women were called girls. Throughout their ordeals, they were treated like children.They were hired to paint tiny numbers on watch and instrument dials so that these numbers could glow in the dark,especially for the first world war. They used radium paint. They, unlike workers in other countries, were trained to put a tiny brush in their mouths so that the brush could maintain an extra fine tip. Then they dipped the brush into the paint, then painted the number on the dial. Repeat.They glowed when they went home. They wore their best dresses to work so they would glow on their nights out. They painted their lips and teeth.No one ever told them, no one really knew, except for the chemists and the mid and upper levels of management. Even the public was buying radium laced toothpaste and other radium curatives.One of the first victims endured months of agonizing tooth extractions and swelling..The end came shortly after her dentist, probing her jaw, simply lifted it right out of her mouth. Read this so you can be aware of the evil that pervades and hides behind public relations and lies.Be smart. Read. Much good came out of this twenty year story. It changed the laws, and led to the creation of osha. Please do not forget these women and their determination to be compensated , not just for them , but for all of us in the present and future.
    • 4/5
      These days it seems incredible that anyone could think a radioactive substance is benign, but back in the World War I era, radium was advertised as a healthful product. Teenage girls were hired to paint watch and clock dials with radium-based luminous paint. Even when health-related issues started to arise, their employers insisted their work was not harmful, and later, went to great lengths to deceive the women through a variety of nefarious tactics. The book focuses on the women individually, as they attempted to live long enough to be vindicated in court. I was engrossed in the plight of the dial painters, and appalled by the corporate greed and apathy exhibited by the companies in pursuit of profit. The suffering of these women eventually led to improved occupational safety and health regulations, and in fact was one of the key reasons OSHA exists.

      The strength of the story carries the book, as the writing is very rudimentary and numerous redundant details are included. Even so, I learned quite a bit from this important part of history and found the story compelling. Recommended to those interested in workers’ rights, environmentally-related science, and human-interest stories. Contains graphic descriptions of the impacts of radiation poisoning, which causes horrific symptoms and extreme suffering.
    • 5/5
      1917. As a war raged across the world, young American women flocked to work, painting watches, clocks, and military dials with a special luminous substance made from radium. It was a fun, lucrative and glamorous job-the girls themselves shone brightly in the dark, covered head to toe in the dust from the paint. They were the radium girls. As the years passed, the women began to suffer from mysterious, crippling I’ll Essex. The very thing that made them feel a,I’ve-their work- was in fact killing them: they had been poisoned by the radium paint. Yet their employers denied all responsibility. And so, in the face of death-these courageous women refused to accept their fate quietly, and instead fought for justice. (True, tragic tale of corporate evil and courage in the face of it)
    • 5/5
      Excellent book - research - such a sad story of illness death and corporate negligence