Radium Girls - by Claudia Clark (Paperback)

About the Book

Radium Girls: Women and Industrial Health Reform, 1910-1935

Book Synopsis

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 incidents -- efforts launched with the help of the reform-minded, middle-class women of the Consumers' League -- Clark is able to evaluate the achievements and shortcomings of the industrial health movement as a whole.

From the Back Cover

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.

Review Quotes

"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"

""Radium Girls" is an important book for anyone interested in industrial health, womenUs health, or the history of radiation.

"New England Journal of Medicine""

"Radium Girls" is a brilliant case study of the radium dial industry. But it is much more.

"Journal of American History"

A compelling and eminently readable book.

"Social History of Medicine"

A rich education in how 'knowledge about industrial diseases is a contested site of power'.

"Labor Studies Journal"

Well written and provocative.

"Technology & Culture"

About the Author

Claudia Clark (1954-2003) taught history at Central Michigan University.