RADIUM GIRLS : WOMEN AND INDUSTRIAL HEALTH REFORM, 1910-1935 PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Claudia Clark | 304 pages | 31 Jul 1997 | The University of North Carolina Press | 9780807846407 | English | Chapel Hill, United States Radium Girls : Women and Industrial Health Reform, 1910-1935 PDF Book A local doctor couldn't diagnose her, but denied that Donohue had radium poisoning. Error rating book. Subscribe to read the entire article. The women won. Darlene Halm. Latest posts S. Feb 03, Gail Krecklow rated it really liked it. The dentist, Joseph Knef, had pulled out several of her teeth, but that only made things worse, with fiery ulcers erupting in their place. She was afraid it was contaminated. The book was useful for the variety of historical information that it provided, and Clark's approachable tone turned what might otherwise be a fairly dry topic in particular, the long stretches dedicated to the legality surrounding industrial health reform , into an enticing, morally complex, and important narrative. Share Tweet Email. But the change that they brought to our country was immense. Everyone should read it. A deeper search into the text brought me some of what I was looking for -- what the factory workers actually went through after ingesting radioactive paint and dust for months or years, and what they did about it. One of them refused to allow the company to bury her and insisted she have a Catholic funeral. I normally don't post reviews, but this book stirred me up! I was so shocked and sad learning about the blatant cover up and disregard for human life to make money. This book not only tells the story of the first documented workers of radium poisoning and their struggle to be diagnosed, recognized and compensated, but of the political, industrial and social landscape of that time that so often though not always prevented the workers from being treated properly in the first place. E-News Subscribe. I am trying to understand the path our country is headed, and how I need to lay the plans for my family. Save my information. In his closing brief, Grossman Sr. Public Opinion and Gender In support of its litigation and lobbying, the League also appealed to a particular construction of female gender differences in order to mobilize public, i. Already have an account? By fall, the disease spread to her jugular vein, causing her to hemorrhage violently and die in agony. Enlarge cover. Bookmark this article. Please try again! In support of its litigation and lobbying, the League also appealed to a particular construction of female gender differences in order to mobilize public, i. Although they had won, the women's individual financial awards were fairly small. Sabin von Sochocky, founder of the U. Some even wore their party dresses to work so they would glow. July 28, at am. The League played upon the notion of women as different than men, as wives and mothers, middle-class wives and mothers who had a special role to play in the reform of society, and working class and poor women who easily fell victim to the men who dominated industry, whether as capitalists, factory managers or foremen. In the early twentieth century, a group of women workers hired to apply luminous paint to watch faces and instrument dials found themselves among the first victims of radium poisoning. Latest: JTD 8 minutes ago. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Aug 13, Monical rated it really liked it. An April 2, , United Press International article, which called the company a "death factory," reported that former workers were suing the company; cancer ran high among the former dial painters. She was among the last of her kind, but longevity in this club was a mixed blessing. Continue with Facebook Sign up with Google. Michael Wahl, says. Illinois history. Following the report of other cases, a state health officer, Lenore Young, investigated and documented a total of five suspicious cases among the women workers, two of whom had already died. Radium Girls : Women and Industrial Health Reform, 1910-1935 Writer Her dentist reported this case to the local health department, which then called in the State Labor Department. Against the Current, No. Geiger counters could pick up readings from pants returned from a dry cleaner and from clothes stored away in a cedar chest. The company had never told us a thing. Create a free personal account to download free article PDFs, sign up for alerts, and more. Create a free personal account to download free article PDFs, sign up for alerts, customize your interests, and more. Contributes to the cultural history of the atomic age. Abstract access only. Navy which, as often happens, also became the de facto standard for private business applications. Overview In the early twentieth century, a group of women workers hired to apply luminous paint to watch faces and instrument dials found themselves among the first victims of radium poisoning. Radium Corporation and inventor of the paint used in the dial factories, sawed off the tip of his own finger when he realized it had become poisoned with radium. The disease was termed a necrosis, and indeed it proved fatal. Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 29 2 , Now, with the hearing delayed to September, it was time to unleash those plans. Many of the workers volunteered to be studied by the Center for Human Radiobiology, part of the Argonne National Laboratory. Many had teeth extracted, or even parts of their jaws removed; they and some who operated on them came to suspect exposures on their job. You are here Home. Clark also bids to go beyond the exclusively productionist focus of much recent history of occupational health, by considering radium as a medicine and a consumer product. Clark's thoughtful analysis raises important ethical questions about scientific and governmental expertise. In the early twentieth century, a group of women workers hired to apply luminous paint to watch faces and instrument dials found themselves among the first victims of radium poisoning. Media Inquiries. Finally they turned to the Consumers League, a reform organization founded by Florence Kelley, the socialist organizer who worked with Jane Addams at Hull House, the famous settlement house in Chicago. Log in or create an account. That's how Regulation came to be. Claudia Clark taught history at Central Michigan University. Eating was torture. She contributes to a body of scholarship that promotes the idea of science as a political realm and the importance of working-class organization around the issue of industrial health and safety. When Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium at the turn of the century, it was hailed as a miracle substance for its effectiveness in treating some cancers and tumors. Most visitors online was , on 12 Dec Save Preferences. Knef, an expert on mouth diseases, had never seen anything like it. I am aware of at least a dozen book published in the last 20 years or so who specifically deal with the labor perspective or the local sociological or political impact in the horological industry in the black forest, in the Swiss Jura and in neighboring France. Cecil Drinker, and his wife Dr. Claudia Clark's book tells the compelling story of these women, who at first had no idea that the tedious task of dialpainting was any different from the other factory jobs available to them. This pattern of interaction among victims, society, and employers has been repeated many times with some variation , with newly discovered industrial diseases and some consumer product injuries, as from tobacco smoking. There may be a site near you. Kate Moore writes in detail how more and more women got sick and died mysteriously. She had seen him repeatedly over the past year — first for a toothache, then for unbearable pain and inflammation in her gums and jaw. Get free access to newly published articles Create a personal account or sign in to: Register for email alerts with links to free full-text articles Access PDFs of free articles Manage your interests Save searches and receive search alerts. I really believe you've hit the nail on the head with this site in regards to solving the research-purchase issue. System error. She enriches the story by exploring contemporary disputes over workplace control, government intervention, and industry-backed medical research. Radium Girls : Women and Industrial Health Reform, 1910-1935 Reviews A life-sized statue erected in honor of Ottawa's radium girls was dedicated in , in Ottawa. The text was blurry Page doesn't load Other:. Continue with Facebook Sign up with Google. Their fight to have their symptoms recognized as an industrial disease represents an important chapter in the history of modern health and labor policy. The pattern starts with management assumptions that corporate financial health and products are more important than worker and consumer health, and that the corporation will be protected from serious legal liability by workers' compensation or other laws. One would have been wrong. Any connection with work is denied, and workers are assured that no hazard exists. Illinois' law led to the creation of the Illinois Industrial Commission in , and it was this body that sided with one of Ottawa's most well-known dial painters in Locals "kind of wanted the women to put up and shut up," she says. As the litigation of radium poisoning cases moved across the country, they brought in their wake changes in state laws concerning worker safety protections, occupational diseases and workers' compensation. However, the final legislation was extremely restrictive, limiting cases to radium necrosis destruction of the jaw rather than the more systemic radium poisoning that continued to occur once the lip-pointing brush was eliminated.