May/June 2020 - Radium Girls

[Ann]

For these next two months, the History Chicks Book Club has voted to read Radium Girls by Kate Moore. This book shows the human side of poor corporate decisions that led to many of the work place safety laws we have today. Join us in our discussions about this New York Times and Amazon Charts bestseller.

[Andrea]

Excited to read it!

[Christy]

Just ordered my copy!

[Juliana | heyjulianahey]

This one has been on my shelves for way too long! I’m excited to finally read it with this group!

[Lara]

I just ordered it and I'm looking forward to reading it.

[Sandy]

Just ordered it! I’ve been wanting to read this for a while, makes it more interesting to have a place to discuss it and hear others thoughts!

[Sandy]

Just ordered mine, this looks so interesting!

[Julie]

My 16 year old daughter and I are getting in on this action. She just had chemistry this semester and is intrigued.

[Kelsey]

I’ve read this one already and excited to re-read it!

[Ann]

Discussion question: The Radium Girls is told mostly through the eyes of the radium-dial workers, their families, and friends; however, previous research never focused on their personal journeys. How did it change your appreciation of or engagement with the story to know the smaller, personal details of the girls' lives? Is there another historical event where you've noticed women being pushed to the sidelines?

[Susan]

I’m like 50% through :). Yknow I think the personal details do a lot, but one thing I think they’re really good at in the book is in showing how painful and how financially devastating this really was for the young women and their spouses. I don’t have the mind of a computer so I can’t always change numbers instantly in my brain to consider inflation, but I think in this book you really get a sense of the burden. I mean it didn’t just kill them it financially ruined their families, and not just a little bit but totally and completely.

[Janet]

Sometimes I found it almost too perineal. And just when I thought the author was creating inner dialogue, I would see the footnote and realize she was quoting. This was such a tough book to get through as it never seemed to let up on the suffering and neglect. I read it with a constant undercurrent of anger and frustration. In other author helped us feel as much as possible the pain these women went through. I would love to see the play she directed that led to this book.

[Janet]

And of course I meant personal...

[Ann]

I felt the same way - angry and frustrated during the book. And, as a reader, I knew most of their lives were going to end which made it even worse! Especially when everyone knew the stuff was toxic except for those women!

[Janet]

Have any of you seen a parallel to the current rush to find a “wonder” drug? I worry that something dangerous will happen if we move to quickly.

[Andrea]

I finally got my copy from the library! I am still in the beginning but I cannot get some of the descriptions out of my mind of poor Mollie.

[Kate]

Hi everyone! I'm about a quarter of the way through Radium Girls, but since this is my first time here, I wanted to ask before I jump in with my thoughts: are spoilers allowed here? I know since it's nonfiction, they aren't truly spoilers, but this books uses the girls lives almost like a narrative. I just wanted to be sure.

[Amy]

Janet wrote: "Have any of you seen a parallel to the current rush to find a “wonder” drug? I worry that something dangerous will happen if we move to quickly."

Yes. It made me think about essential oils, all the weight loss drinks/powders/pills, skin care, etc. When something is so new, how do we truly know the long-term effects? Also, if a large corporation is selling it, they aren't likely to just advertise in big bold letters potential dangers.

[Jennifer]

I am almost half way through and I'm just flabbergasted at the officials/bosses who traded lives for money. also I can't read it before bed. I dreamed about strange and horrible ailments all night

[Andrea]

I finished it. Then dreamt that I had to prove the existence of tiny dinosaurs and nobody believed me despite the fact the dinos were all walking around.
Also excited to know that I share my birthday with their remembrance day.

[Susan]

Hi everyone,


Just letting you know we will have a virtual chat on Zoom on Sunday, July 12 at 3pm CST / 4 pm EST.

On that day, we will post a link here and on Facebook. We just wanted to give you something of a heads up, so you can schedule accordingly. A poll for the next book will be up soon!

[Venus]

I loved the book! Totally went down the rabbit hole when I was done. Those girls were so brave!