The radium girls : the dark story of America's shining women /
Kate Moore.
- xviii, 483 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 21 cm
"Originally published in 2016 in the United Kingdom by Simon & Schuster UK"--Title page verso. Includes reading group guide (pages 416-417).
Includes bibliographical references (pages 422-473) and index.
List of key characters -- Prologue -- Part one. Knowledge -- Part two. Power -- Part three. Justice -- Epilogue -- Postscript -- Author's note -- Acknowledgments -- Reading group guide -- Picture acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Notes -- Select bibliography -- Index -- About the author.
As World War I raged across the globe, hundreds of young women toiled away at the radium-dial factories, where they painted clock faces with a mysterious new substance called radium. Assured by their bosses that the luminous material was safe, the women themselves shone brightly in the dark, covered from head to toe with the glowing dust. With such a coveted job, these "shining girls" were considered the luckiest alive--until they began to fall mysteriously ill. As the fatal poison of the radium took hold, they found themselves embroiled in one of America's biggest scandals and a groundbreaking battle for workers' rights. The Radium Girls explores the strength of extraordinary women in the face of almost impossible circumstances and the astonishing legacy they left behind.
9781492650959 1492650951 9780606405195 0606405194
99975716418
2016040681
United States Radium Corporation.
Watch dial painters--Diseases--History.--United States Radium paint--Toxicology. Consumers' leagues--History.--United States Industrial hygiene--History--United States--20th century. World War, 1914-1918--Women--United States. World War, 1914-1918--War work--United States. Women employees--Diseases--United States. Employers' liability--United States--Case studies.