From the Bookshelf of Diversity in All Forms!…

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

Kate Moore

Start date: September 1, 2018

Finish date: September 30, 2018

Discussion: Monthly Group Reads

Why we're reading this: The diversity topic we cover in September is Historical Event

The Radium Girls The Dark Story of America'…more
[close] The diversity topic we cover in September is Historical Event

The Radium Girls The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore

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What Members Thought

Oct 05, 2017 Barbara rated it really liked it

4.5 stars

As early as World War I 'glow in the dark' gauges and watch dials became vital to soldiers. These were manufactured by painting the faces of the devices with compounds containing the radioactive element radium.

Clock with radium dial

At the time, the dangers of fissionable elements was unknown, and - in fact - radium was touted as a boon to good looks and good health.

Radium was touted as a boon to health

After the war - in the 1920s - large factories sprang up to feed the growing demand f ...more

83 likes · Like · see review

Jan 19, 2018 Nikki "The Crazie Betty" V. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir-bio-autobio, ha-mount-tbr-challenge, non-fiction, 2018-faves, thriller-suspense, now-thats-disturbing, history, effed-up, science, political-social-commentary

4.5 Stars Rounded to 5

There isn’t one thing I can say about this book that would do the content justice. There were moments reading about the plights these women were going through where I fully had the hitched, ready to cry breathing, without crying. I mean, it’s absolutely devastating what these girls and their families went through. The corporate greed and complete underhandedness made my blood boil and I wanted to go back in time and punch all of the Radium company owners in the face. I mean 4.5 Stars Rounded to 5

There isn’t one thing I can say about this book that would do the content justice. There were moments reading about the plights these women were going through where I fully had the hitched, ready to cry breathing, without crying. I mean, it’s absolutely devastating what these girls and their families went through. The corporate greed and complete underhandedness made my blood boil and I wanted to go back in time and punch all of the Radium company owners in the face. I mean, I still get chills when I think of the magnitude of the situation. As well as just how many people died and were affected by radium poisoning. It is sickening to say the least.

Lip…Dip…Paint… will now forever be 3 of the most terrifying words I’ve ever heard strung together. Knowing today how truly dangerous radium is, it is crazy to read about these women basically fully digesting the radium powder. Along with having ‘fun’ with it by painting their faces and nails, and wearing their best clothes to work so they glow when they go out that night. It’s really creepy when they talk about going to bed at night and there being no lights on, and seeing the glow come off their skin. It is seriously insane to think about the things that happened in this book, and in our very real history.

Special shout-out to those who chose to think outside the box, and really try to figure out what was going on. The doctors, the government workers, and the few attorneys who really stood up for these women to ensure that justice was served against corrupt, greedy, deceptive and abusive radium companies. The same companies who touted how special what these girls were doing was, by painting the luminous clocks that allowed continued war efforts, and then just as quickly turning them out and slandering their integrity and humanity by refusing to take responsibility for what they were doing.

Ultimately, numerous laws were added and updated to ensure such egregious miscarriages of justice wouldn’t be able to happen again in the future. These young girls started working to help their country, support their families during the Great Depression, and ultimately fought one of the biggest legal battles on U.S. soil, not only for the feminist movement, and women everywhere, but for every citizen of our country. Winning their legal battles didn’t bring back all of those that already died, didn’t find them a cure for their own poisoning, and didn’t help all those families who were so negatively affected by the whole situation. But it did give hope to all future generations that they would never have to go through such a horrific experience at the hands of a greedy corporation. We are all in debt to the sacrifices they made with their lives.

The only reason I dropped half a star off this was the fact that the author put all the notes and bibliography at the end of the book. I would’ve preferred if there had been footnotes throughout the book that I could’ve quickly and easily referenced as I went.

I am most fortunate to have received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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Nov 29, 2017 Krista the Krazy Kataloguer rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own-ebook, read-adult-nonfiction, read-disasters, read-womens-history, read-health, read-goodreads-authors, read-science

Absolutely riveting! I couldn't put it down. I first heard of the Radium Girls when I saw the documentary film "Radium City" on TV way back in the '80s. (And now I can watch it again on YouTube!) So I was excited when I learned of this book, and even more excited when my history book discussion group chose it for this month's pick. It's a shocking story, right to the end, and deals not just with the girls at Radium Dial Company in Ottawa, Illinois (the subject of "Radium City"), but also with Ra ...more

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Dec 31, 2018 Alisha Marie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, read-in-2018, e-books-i-ve-read, two-star-books, on-kindle

The Radium Girls has incredibly amateurish writing. Yes, that is the first sentence of this review because it was what stuck out at me when I first started reading this book. The writing is repetitive (the same phrases are repeated over and over again in the same page, sometimes even in the same paragraph) and downright clunky (she refers to a woman bleeding profusely "down there." Really? Down there? We're all adults here. Just say "vagina." It's okay, I promise). However, my biggest issue with ...more

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Sep 06, 2017 Andrea Kemper rated it really liked it

Woah. This is a dark, morbid, infuriating story. I had no idea about this part of our history until my high school students performed the one act play, These Shining Lives (and took it all the way to state), so I knew I had to read it! The writing drove me a little crazy, but the research was impeccable. This is a must read as finally, nearly a century later, some light is shed on this extremely dark topic of the dial painters of the Radium Dial company.

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Jan 30, 2018 Stefanie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nonfiction

Fascinating and heartbreaking.

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Aug 03, 2018 Katrisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: chirp-owned-but-read

Wow! What an amazing (and horrifying!!) story. I did nothing for two days but listen to this book! It is heartbreaking to hear these women's stories as they fight for recognition and compensation for their radium poisoning. It's disheartening to see the extent people will deny how their business hurts/kills people in order to keep bringing in those dollars. I kept thinking - why is there so much of the book left when it's so clear that these women should win their court case? - and it just kept ...more

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