Synopses & Reviews
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. 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. But after repeated exposure to the radium-laced paint, they began to develop mysterious, often fatal illnesses that they traced to conditions in the workplace. Their fight to have their symptoms recognized as an industrial disease represents an important chapter in the history of modern health and labor policy.
Clark's account emphasizes the social and political factors that influenced the responses of the workers, managers, government officials, medical specialists, and legal authorities involved in the case. She enriches the story by exploring contemporary disputes over workplace control, government intervention, and industry-backed medical research. Finally, in appraising the dialpainters' campaign to secure compensation and prevention of further incidentsefforts launched with the help of the reform-minded, middle-class women of the Consumers' LeagueClark is able to evaluate the achievements and shortcomings of the industrial health movement as a whole.
Review
A compelling and eminently readable book.
Social History of Medicine
Review
Radium Girls is a brilliant case study of the radium dial industry. But it is much more.
Journal of American History
Review
A rich education in how 'knowledge about industrial diseases is a contested site of power'.
Labor Studies Journal
Review
Radium Girls is an important book for anyone interested in industrial health, women•s health, or the history of radiation.
New England Journal of Medicine
Review
Well written and provocative.
Technology and Culture
About the Author
Claudia Clark is associate professor of history at Central Michigan University.