POLICY
THE RADIUM GIRLS A DYING FIGHT FOR JUSTICE By
Meagan Johnson Amanda Calipo
You may remember “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair, the classic novel exposing the appalling working conditions in the meat-packing industry at the beginning of the 1900s. However, a lesser known tale exposes a mass coverup affecting occupational safety in the workplace. It is a tale of hundreds of working-class women flocking to factories to join the elite subset of clock dial painters, a tale where women will die while fighting for their basic human rights to well-being. A tale of litigation and painful death. Unfortunately, this “tale” became reality for hundreds of women in the 1920s, infamously known as “the Radium girls.” After World War I was declared and it became
increasingly evident that America would become involved, women rapidly became the face of the industrial complex. Suddenly taking over traditionally male jobs, a select few women began working as painters for watches and military dials using the latest element, Radium. This position was amongst the most selective in the United States, landing a spot on this assembly line would put you in the top 5% of female workers nationally. This job was seductive. It provided women with a sense of economic freedom during a time of burgeoning female empowerment, appealed to the artistic and creative individuals, and allowed the women work with the revolutionary “glow in
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