August 13, 2020 • 27 mins
At the intersection of scientific advancement and tragedy is the story of US Radium and the young women who stood up to them.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart
Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Mankey listener discretion advised.
It's beautiful, she told her husband. It was Christmas time
(00:21):
in Paris, but Marie and Pierre weren't looking at the
glow of Paris city lights and soft snowfall. The couple
were inside a dilapidated brick building that purchased as a
makeshift laboratory, sitting on well worn chairs and odd wooden
work table littered with an array of flimsy wires, scopes,
and cheap instruments. A radiant, almost magical light broke the
(00:44):
darkness surrounding them, and Marie found the luminescent glow captivating.
Having married just three years earlier, when Marie was twenty
seven and Pierre was thirty six, the two didn't have
a lot of money. Yet despite the tottering chairs, odd
work tables, and the isolation chamber made out of wooden
grocery crates, the couple couldn't be happier. Science had brought
(01:05):
them together, and their love of it had become an
intimate bond between them. So Marie looked on the beautiful
gleaming object still nestled deep within one of her pockets,
The shimmering glow bright enough to allow Pierre to drop
down a single word in their notebook. They chose a
name for it, after the Latin word for ray. They
called it radium. Before long, though, this new discovery would
(01:29):
enchant more than just the Curies. The whole world was
about to encounter a scientific miracle, and soon enough, interest
in it would transform into obsession. But as we're about
to find out, not all obsessions are good for us.
I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome to American Shadows. It all started
(02:01):
back in February of Marie and Pierre had immersed themselves
in their lab. Marie began working with a heavy black
substance known as pitch blend, noting that the naturally occurring
mineral contained uranium. After that uranium had been removed, though
the material left behind was still highly radioactive. When she
(02:21):
studied those remains, Marie discovered an unknown luminous element. The
couple worked tirelessly. Days after completing their notes, the Kerries
announced their discovery to the French Academy of Sciences on December,
and radium quickly became a breakthrough discovery. The substance destroyed
human tissue, but as ghastly as that sounds, scientists around
(02:45):
the world would soon put that property to use in
the fight against cancer. Radium didn't disappoint either. Its effect
on CANCERUS tumors proved nothing short of astounding. Newspapers printed
articles that speculated on everything from the use of radium
as for alizer to supercharge the growth of crops, to
using it to make brilliantly glowing candies and shimmering cocktails.
(03:07):
There were seemingly practical uses to Companies marketed paint for
reflective house numbers. Radium Christmas tree lights were touted as
being much safer than candles. Glowing light switches made it
easier to find them in a dark room. In certain pharmacies,
people bought radium laced pills and bandages. New types of
clinics and spas opened up, promising a variety of radium
(03:29):
induced health benefits if you could afford them. That is,
In nineteen o four, a Manhattan based company produced a
patented health water called Liquid Sunshine. The same company also
created and sold a glow in the Dark ink. Another
company made glow in the dark eyes for children's toys
(03:51):
now creepy glowing doll eyes in the middle of the night.
Aside radiums, luminescence was indeed stunningly beautiful, and other products
soon follow drinks, elixirs, salt soaps, and even suppositories. Many
products claimed radium cured everything from agnet, awartz, and just
about every ailment in between for the general public, though
(04:12):
most of these products were sham most didn't contain any
radium at all because the stuff was outrageously expensive. In
nineteen fifteen, a graham of radium costs eight four thousand,
five hundred dollars that's one point nine million dollars in
today's economy, making it one of the most expensive elements
on Earth in its day, so, as you might expect,
(04:34):
only the super rich were able to purchase anything with
much radium in it. That didn't stop the wave of
products or the people who clamored for them. Though radium
toothpaste promised to dazzle smiles, intensifying the brightness with every brushing.
Radior cosmetics sold creams, rouge, and powders designed to restore
that youthful glow. Companies made radium butter and radium milk.
(04:56):
Even clothing like lingerie and jock straps boasted radium to
boost virility. No wonder, officials began to warn citizens to
be on the lookout for radium scams. Companies found instant
wealth in radium. Factories cropped up to meet the demand
for radium enhanced products, and they didn't just build factories
in cities. Factories were built in the suburbs too. Radium
(05:19):
seemed to be everywhere, and demand for its skyrocketed, while
more and more commercial products continued to emerge. Medical science,
enamored with radium's groundbreaking use for cancer, researched the elements
impact on other diseases. Sick patients began to call for
treatment with radium. Doctors even wondered if radium might help
them not only treat cancer, but actually cure it. In
(05:45):
the early nineteen hundreds, radium was referred to as one
of history's greatest finds. In nineteen o three, Marie Curry
became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in physics.
In nineteen eleven, she was awarded a second Nobel Prize,
taking her the first scientists to win two of these awards.
Radium prompted the U s Surgeon General at the time
(06:07):
to say that the element reminded him of a mythological
super being. An English physician called radium the unknown God.
Some had even said radium had been predicted in the Bible.
Within a few short years, radium's future grew to be
the new, bright and shiny object, bigger and brighter than
a full moon on a clear night in the world.
(06:27):
Mesmerized by its brilliance and allure couldn't get enough. But
as it turned out, Marie's beautiful, glowing miracle had a
darker side. Radium occurs naturally in our soil, groundwater, food,
in small doses, usually one picogram or less per gram
(06:50):
of soil. For perspective, Marie Carey sifted through tons of
pitch blend just to find one tenth of a gram
of radium. Without getting too technical, the amount of radium
would contact through soil is probably negligible. Still, radium is
about a million times more radioactive than uranium in much
(07:11):
larger amounts. Though radium can cause anemia, cataracts, fractured teeth,
ulcerated skin, lung cancer, and various forms of bone cancers
like leukemia. While the curies knew about radioactive material. Little
was understood about the long term effects on humans, and
sure radium could destroy tumors, but it also killed off
(07:32):
healthy tissue as well. But who could fault them? The
Curies were physicists, after all, not physicians. Besides, tests for
radium exposure simply didn't exist. Then in nineteen seventeen, the
end of World War One was still a year away.
In the United States, Patriotism was as common as apple pie.
The economy was booming, and women took jobs and factories
(07:54):
while the men were off fighting in the war. The
popularity of radium was still soaring. A company called the
US Radium Corporation patented un Dark, a blowing paint made
from radium. While they specialized in watching clock dials, that
also signed a profitable contract with the US government to
use un Dark on gun sites and ship compasses for
(08:15):
nighttime use. US Radium set up shop in Orange, New Jersey,
right in the middle of a residential neighborhood. Huge windows
surrounded the two story brick building, and more light streamed
in from above. All that light was both charming and
perfect for painting, and while they painted dials and instruments,
the women workers enjoyed a beautiful view of the neighborhood.
(08:39):
US Radium hired single immigrants Italian mostly. They paid them well, too,
often three times more than factory workers. The women brought
home three d and seventy dollars a week, which was
just over nineteen thousand dollars a year the fast ones, though,
they often doubled that, making them the top five percent
of female way journers. Painting dials became a highly sought
(09:03):
after dream job. Demand for luminescent dials continued to grow.
When US Radium needed more painters, the girls hold their
family and friends. Soon almost three seventy five women sat
shoulder to shoulder painting dials. The women used fine camel
hair brushes to paint the small watch dials. The bristles
(09:23):
often separated after the application of radium powder, glue, and water.
To solve this, the girls licked the tip of the
brush and used their lips to smooth the fibers into
a fine point. Now you and I wouldn't imagine doing
such a thing, but the company assured the women that
the mixture was perfectly safe. Besides, the method of lip
(09:44):
pointing was just how it was done. Lip pointing allowed
the women to work faster. Faster work meant more products.
When their work they ended, the girls would paint their nails, lips,
and teeth with radium powder and then meet their dates
for an evening out. Every one knew them. As they
walked out into the night, they simply glowed. But soon
(10:09):
enough the girls began to get sick, and not just
a little sick either. In Nto, Grace Friar, who had
left two years earlier, lost several teeth. Dentists began to
treat a large number of young girls with abscesses and
rotting jaws. When one dentist asked us radium for the
paint's formula, they refused. Dr Kenefe treated Molly, a young
(10:33):
girl who complained that the pain in her face had
become unbearable. Gently, Dr Keneife pressed a finger to Molly's jaw,
accidentally causing the bone to break. When he looked inside
her mouth, he discovered a piece of exposed bone. All
he had to do was lift the fragment from her mouth.
A week later, Dr Kenefe simply pulled out the remainder
(10:55):
of Molly's lower jaw. No incisions or operation required. Other
dentists experienced similar issues with their patients. One doctor reported
a case of poisoning by phosphorus to the Industrial Hygiene
Division on December. Upon visiting US Radiums factory, the inspector
(11:15):
called attention to the technique of lip pointing. I've warned
them it's dangerous, Harold Vite, US Radiums vice president told
the inspector as they watched the girls put the brushes
to their lips again and again. I've pulled them repeatedly,
but they won't stop. This was, of course, a direct
contradiction to telling the girls the material was absolutely harmless.
(11:38):
Yet four months earlier they had written an internal article
on the dangers of radium, and it wasn't the first either.
The company later admitted ten such internal memos existed, some
dating back to nineteen o six. In the end, the
Public Health Services report found only a couple of cases
with side effects connected to the radium paint, one case
(12:00):
of skin erosion and one case of anemia. The Health
Services formal recommendation take care when handling radium and what
that meant was vague at best. Meanwhile, and despite the investigation,
women continued to die. The most gruesome of deaths, deaths
the company claimed were due to syphilis. Doctors and dentists
(12:26):
didn't agree and felt certain that the women were dying
from radium. They called for US Radium to shut down.
Complaints to the Department of Labor and the Public Health
Services fell on deaf ears, though even a letter asking
for help from the National Consumers Leak went unanswered. No one,
it seemed, cared much about the health or working conditions
(12:47):
of the young women. An independent study in found a
direct correlation between radium and the deaths and illnesses of
the women. Outraged, US Radium paid researchers to prove radium safety.
The company's president also claimed the women were attempting to
extract money from the company for their health issues. Still,
(13:10):
the rumors flew, and when two doctors from the Harvard
School of Public Health asked US Radiums president if they
could do a case study, he saw an opportunity. After
interviewing chemists and twenty five women painters, the Harvard doctors
delivered their report two weeks later. Fight handed over part
(13:31):
of the Harvard report to the Department of Labor, claiming
the report clearly showed that employee blood work was perfectly normal.
That was only part of the report, though Harvard had
a table for each ingredient used. Right removed the report
on radium, which concluded enough evidence regarding over exposure. When
(13:52):
the Harvard doctors caught wind of the emission, they decided
to publish their own report. As you can imagine, this
didn't go over well with Light. He threatened a lawsuit
on behalf of US Radium, claiming the Harvard doctors had
signed a confidentiality contract. Meanwhile, the women kept dying. In
(14:21):
another US Radium employee died, this time was different. Officials
took notice. The employee you see was mail Shortly after
the new investigation started, a new doctor assigned to the
case finally found proof that the women had overexposure to radium.
Not only were their bodies emitting radiation, but the material
(14:43):
was punching holes in their bones. Grace Friar, who had
experienced earlier tooth loss, now had a deteriorating spine. Another
girl's jawbone had disintegrated into nothing more than a stump.
The doctors even determined that the women's l eggs were
shortening from bone loss, and one woman, upon looking at herself,
(15:04):
in the mirror one night, noticed that her skin actually
glowed in the dark. All of this sounds horrific, and
yes it was, but the radiation wasn't done with the women.
Their illnesses would continue to worsen over time. Grace Fryer
knew this is how she would die. According to the doctors,
(15:25):
there was no cure, no slowing the radiation inside her,
so she decided to take on us Radium in court.
For two years, she searched for an attorney to take
the case. Finally, on May eighth, a young lawyer named
Raymond Barry accepted her case, filing the suit on Grace's
behalf entirely on contingency. Four more women soon joined her,
(15:50):
Edna Husman, Katherine shob and sisters Quintin McDonald and Albina Luis.
Each woman asked for two d and fifty thousand dollars
for medical expenses and compensation. There were obstacles to overcome, though,
the first new Jersey's two year statute of limitations, the
second living long enough to see the case through. Us
(16:14):
Radium responded to Barry's filing, first by attacking his character
and then by going to the bar and threatening charges
Barry remained undaunted, though medical examiners in both New York
and New Jersey were looking into employee deaths, and of course,
there were newspaper reporters. Once the story leaked to the press,
(16:34):
it became a front page headline. Day after day, the
papers printed a new story the women's suffering, US Radium's defense,
speculation on how the women would spend their quarter million
dollar windfall if they won, and even stories about the
effects of Radium and how much longer the women had
to live. It's hard to imagine what it was like
for those women, knowing they would die, but still reading
(16:57):
headlines that all but predicted it. The newspapers reported Barry's
stance on his client's health. He said, when you have
heard that you are going to die, that there's no hope,
and every newspaper you pick up, Prince, what really amounts
to your obituary. There is nothing else. US Radium managed
(17:19):
to keep the case going through n all while each
of the defendants health predictably worsened. In January, Grace and
the other women became so sick that raising their arms
to take the oath in court proved impossible. In April,
their health deteriorated to the point they could no longer
tend court hearings. Hearing this news, Marie Currey offered her
(17:43):
deepest condolences. Regrettably, she confirmed that there was no cure,
no way of destroying or removing Radium once in the body.
Carrie went on to strongly suggest that changing the way
Radium was handled was imperative for the safety of those
working with it. The Radium gard who had held out
hope for so long, we're grief stricken. The case between
(18:06):
US Radium and the women ultimately became a waiting game.
The company used one delay tactic after another on a
despite Barry's objections, the judge postponed the case until September,
the reason U S Radiums witnesses planned on vacationing in
Europe all summer long. Barry's worst fears seemed to becoming true.
(18:29):
US Radium was stalling. The company was hedging their bets
that the women would die before the trial. Public support
for the women's sword the Radium girls plight continued to
dominate the headlines. Pictures of Grace and the others being
wheeled in and out of court shocked the nation, and
photos of the damage done to them enraged the public.
(18:50):
Us Radium, in an attempt to subdue public outcry, hired
a consultant from Columbia University to run tests and hold
a press conference on its findings. Consultant Frederick Flynn, stood
before a crowd of spectators and press and declared that
the women could survive their illnesses, and even more unbelievably,
the tests showed no trace of radioactivity in the women.
(19:14):
The press turned to the women's lawyer for a response. Again,
Barry remained undaunted. He simply replied he'd c u S
Radium in court. With continued public outrage and pressure on
the New Jersey court system, the trial date was moved
up to early June. Of Meanwhile, sympathy cards inundated the
(19:37):
women's homes, along with letters from scammers looking to profit
from the women claiming they had a cure. With growing
empathy and compassion from the public, going to court started
to look a lot less favorable to us Radium. A
judge offered to mediate and the company sat down with
Barry to negotiate a settlement. Within days of the trial,
(19:57):
they reached an agreement each of the men would get
just ten thousand dollars up front and a six d
dollar yearly annuity. The company also agreed to pay all
their current and future medical expenses. In doing so, though
US Radium became the first company in American history to
be held responsible for the health of their employees. For
(20:19):
the Radium Girls, the settlement was a far cry from
two d and fifty thousand dollars. Some of the women
died within months of the agreement. Grace Fryar passed away
a few years later at the age of thirty four,
her spine shattered and all her teeth gone. She was
unable to even sit without a back brace to hold
her upright. It may sound like justice wasn't fully served,
(20:42):
and maybe that's true. The women paid the ultimate price,
after all, and their deaths have been nothing short of brutal,
but their legacy has outlived them. Five women stood up
to a goliath corporation. Their case set the president for
suits involving environmental cancers and even helped form occupational hazard
law for employees, laws that are still saving lives today.
(21:06):
Grace and the others lost their lives to it, but
Radium would never match their grit or inner glow or
be as fierce as they turned out to be, They
truly were the Radium Girls. Marie Curry knew a lot
(21:29):
about tenacity and grit. She lost Pierre in nineteen o
six to an unfortunate accident. Dedicated to serving science and
helping others, Marie used her skills and resources during World
War One to invent portable X rays for use in
the field, called affectionately Little Curies later, Marie joined forces
with Albert Einstein and Max Plunk at the Congress of
(21:51):
Physics for the trio discussed groundbreaking discoveries in their field.
Marie's love of her glowing radium became her life's work.
She understood radium's power and that just because it occurred
naturally didn't mean that it was altogether safe. Although she
saw the promise the good in radium, others wielded the
other side of the sword, using it for profit and
(22:14):
at great cost to others. Marie Curie lived to be
sixty six, passing away on July fourty four from a
plastic anemia caused, of course, by radiation. As a woman scientist,
she overcame a lot of obstacles, and her enduring spirit
still serves as an inspiration to other women in the field.
(22:35):
Her daughter, Irene became a physicist and her granddaughter became
a nuclear physicist. Countless educational and research facilities also bear
her name, including the Cury Institute. Officials moved Marie's remains
to the Pantheon in Paris, where she became the first
woman ever to be buried among the greatest minds of France.
Her notebooks are also considered both the national and scientific treasure.
(22:59):
There kept safe in France's National Library in Paris, You're
not likely to see them, though not without signing a
liability waiver and wearing protective gear. You see, Marie's notebooks
are still highly radioactive, as are her physical remains, and
they will be for a very long time until the
year thirty five thirty four. There's more to this story.
(23:26):
Stick around after the brief sponsor break to hear all
about it. Eben Buyers had it all. He was the
president of the world largest steel corporation, the A. M.
Buyer's Company in Pittsburgh and a well known former professional golfer.
But while celebrating a board a party train after a
(23:47):
Harvard Yale football game, he injured an arm in a
fall Upon returning home, he followed up with his physician.
His doctor recommended a drink to help him heal. Rate
it Thor was made by Bailey Radium Laboratories in East Orange,
New Jersey, and it boasted all the benefits of radium
in a convenient drink. Thinking more was better, buyers drank
(24:11):
three of the two ounce bottles a day every day.
The drink was extremely expensive, as you might guess, but
buyers could easily afford it. At first, he felt invigorated,
so much so that he bought cases of Rate of
Thor for his colleagues. He owned race horses, and he
made sure they were given Rate A Thor two. Buyers,
having once been known for his smooth moves with the ladies,
(24:33):
found that Rate of Thor helped him regain his virility
as well. Naturally, his many girlfriends also had plentiful stashes
of the drink. The guy was rich. Things went well
for buyers until his teeth began to fall out in ninety.
After he complained, the Federal Trade Commission sent an investigator
out to his estate. Amid the extravagant setting, they couldn't
(24:57):
have been met with a more grizzly sight. Half of
Buyer's face had disintegrated, two small teeth jutted from his
upper jaw, and his lower jaw and chin had decomposed.
Bandages wrapped his head to cover the holes large enough
to see his brain, and much like the Radium girls,
bones throughout his body had disintegrated as well. Yes, Eban
(25:21):
Buyers was still alive. Speaking, as you can imagine, was
difficult for him. He had endured two surgeries already, one
to remove most of his decade upper jaw and another
to remove a part of the lower portion. Still, he
managed to testify about raded Thor. The FTC filed a
cease and desist letter to Bailey Radium Laboratories on December nineteenth.
(25:46):
Not only did the government want the company to stop
claiming the drink had therapeutic value, they wanted them to
stop promising that it was harmless. The manufacturer didn't fight
like US Radium had. After the testimony of Eban Buyers,
the company sty making radith Or entirely. Later on, the
founder claimed he went out of business due to depression
and not anything to do with the FTC IS investigation.
(26:09):
When Ebben Buyers passed away in two the press covered
it extensively. Being wealthy and well connected had made Buyers
a celebrity of sorts, and having died from radiation poisoning,
he was buried in a coffin lined with lead, and
his death spurred the ninety eight Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act,
which outlawed deceptive packaging. In nineteen sixty thirty three years
(26:33):
after Buyer's death, an m I T scientist exhumed the
man's remains. Buyer's skeleton still contained the same amount of
radiation as the day he died. Like Marie Curry and
the Radium Girls, his remains will be radioactive for centuries
to come. American Shadows is hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This
(26:59):
episode was written by Michelle Muto with researcher Robin Miniter,
and produced by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive
producers Aaron Minky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn
more about the show, visit Grim and Mile dot com.
For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, visit the I
Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart
Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Mankey listener discretion advised.
It's beautiful, she told her husband. It was Christmas time
(00:21):
in Paris, but Marie and Pierre weren't looking at the
glow of Paris city lights and soft snowfall. The couple
were inside a dilapidated brick building that purchased as a
makeshift laboratory, sitting on well worn chairs and odd wooden
work table littered with an array of flimsy wires, scopes,
and cheap instruments. A radiant, almost magical light broke the
(00:44):
darkness surrounding them, and Marie found the luminescent glow captivating.
Having married just three years earlier, when Marie was twenty
seven and Pierre was thirty six, the two didn't have
a lot of money. Yet despite the tottering chairs, odd
work tables, and the isolation chamber made out of wooden
grocery crates, the couple couldn't be happier. Science had brought
(01:05):
them together, and their love of it had become an
intimate bond between them. So Marie looked on the beautiful
gleaming object still nestled deep within one of her pockets,
The shimmering glow bright enough to allow Pierre to drop
down a single word in their notebook. They chose a
name for it, after the Latin word for ray. They
called it radium. Before long, though, this new discovery would
(01:29):
enchant more than just the Curies. The whole world was
about to encounter a scientific miracle, and soon enough, interest
in it would transform into obsession. But as we're about
to find out, not all obsessions are good for us.
I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome to American Shadows. It all started
(02:01):
back in February of Marie and Pierre had immersed themselves
in their lab. Marie began working with a heavy black
substance known as pitch blend, noting that the naturally occurring
mineral contained uranium. After that uranium had been removed, though
the material left behind was still highly radioactive. When she
(02:21):
studied those remains, Marie discovered an unknown luminous element. The
couple worked tirelessly. Days after completing their notes, the Kerries
announced their discovery to the French Academy of Sciences on December,
and radium quickly became a breakthrough discovery. The substance destroyed
human tissue, but as ghastly as that sounds, scientists around
(02:45):
the world would soon put that property to use in
the fight against cancer. Radium didn't disappoint either. Its effect
on CANCERUS tumors proved nothing short of astounding. Newspapers printed
articles that speculated on everything from the use of radium
as for alizer to supercharge the growth of crops, to
using it to make brilliantly glowing candies and shimmering cocktails.
(03:07):
There were seemingly practical uses to Companies marketed paint for
reflective house numbers. Radium Christmas tree lights were touted as
being much safer than candles. Glowing light switches made it
easier to find them in a dark room. In certain pharmacies,
people bought radium laced pills and bandages. New types of
clinics and spas opened up, promising a variety of radium
(03:29):
induced health benefits if you could afford them. That is,
In nineteen o four, a Manhattan based company produced a
patented health water called Liquid Sunshine. The same company also
created and sold a glow in the Dark ink. Another
company made glow in the dark eyes for children's toys
(03:51):
now creepy glowing doll eyes in the middle of the night.
Aside radiums, luminescence was indeed stunningly beautiful, and other products
soon follow drinks, elixirs, salt soaps, and even suppositories. Many
products claimed radium cured everything from agnet, awartz, and just
about every ailment in between for the general public, though
(04:12):
most of these products were sham most didn't contain any
radium at all because the stuff was outrageously expensive. In
nineteen fifteen, a graham of radium costs eight four thousand,
five hundred dollars that's one point nine million dollars in
today's economy, making it one of the most expensive elements
on Earth in its day, so, as you might expect,
(04:34):
only the super rich were able to purchase anything with
much radium in it. That didn't stop the wave of
products or the people who clamored for them. Though radium
toothpaste promised to dazzle smiles, intensifying the brightness with every brushing.
Radior cosmetics sold creams, rouge, and powders designed to restore
that youthful glow. Companies made radium butter and radium milk.
(04:56):
Even clothing like lingerie and jock straps boasted radium to
boost virility. No wonder, officials began to warn citizens to
be on the lookout for radium scams. Companies found instant
wealth in radium. Factories cropped up to meet the demand
for radium enhanced products, and they didn't just build factories
in cities. Factories were built in the suburbs too. Radium
(05:19):
seemed to be everywhere, and demand for its skyrocketed, while
more and more commercial products continued to emerge. Medical science,
enamored with radium's groundbreaking use for cancer, researched the elements
impact on other diseases. Sick patients began to call for
treatment with radium. Doctors even wondered if radium might help
them not only treat cancer, but actually cure it. In
(05:45):
the early nineteen hundreds, radium was referred to as one
of history's greatest finds. In nineteen o three, Marie Curry
became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in physics.
In nineteen eleven, she was awarded a second Nobel Prize,
taking her the first scientists to win two of these awards.
Radium prompted the U s Surgeon General at the time
(06:07):
to say that the element reminded him of a mythological
super being. An English physician called radium the unknown God.
Some had even said radium had been predicted in the Bible.
Within a few short years, radium's future grew to be
the new, bright and shiny object, bigger and brighter than
a full moon on a clear night in the world.
(06:27):
Mesmerized by its brilliance and allure couldn't get enough. But
as it turned out, Marie's beautiful, glowing miracle had a
darker side. Radium occurs naturally in our soil, groundwater, food,
in small doses, usually one picogram or less per gram
(06:50):
of soil. For perspective, Marie Carey sifted through tons of
pitch blend just to find one tenth of a gram
of radium. Without getting too technical, the amount of radium
would contact through soil is probably negligible. Still, radium is
about a million times more radioactive than uranium in much
(07:11):
larger amounts. Though radium can cause anemia, cataracts, fractured teeth,
ulcerated skin, lung cancer, and various forms of bone cancers
like leukemia. While the curies knew about radioactive material. Little
was understood about the long term effects on humans, and
sure radium could destroy tumors, but it also killed off
(07:32):
healthy tissue as well. But who could fault them? The
Curies were physicists, after all, not physicians. Besides, tests for
radium exposure simply didn't exist. Then in nineteen seventeen, the
end of World War One was still a year away.
In the United States, Patriotism was as common as apple pie.
The economy was booming, and women took jobs and factories
(07:54):
while the men were off fighting in the war. The
popularity of radium was still soaring. A company called the
US Radium Corporation patented un Dark, a blowing paint made
from radium. While they specialized in watching clock dials, that
also signed a profitable contract with the US government to
use un Dark on gun sites and ship compasses for
(08:15):
nighttime use. US Radium set up shop in Orange, New Jersey,
right in the middle of a residential neighborhood. Huge windows
surrounded the two story brick building, and more light streamed
in from above. All that light was both charming and
perfect for painting, and while they painted dials and instruments,
the women workers enjoyed a beautiful view of the neighborhood.
(08:39):
US Radium hired single immigrants Italian mostly. They paid them well, too,
often three times more than factory workers. The women brought
home three d and seventy dollars a week, which was
just over nineteen thousand dollars a year the fast ones, though,
they often doubled that, making them the top five percent
of female way journers. Painting dials became a highly sought
(09:03):
after dream job. Demand for luminescent dials continued to grow.
When US Radium needed more painters, the girls hold their
family and friends. Soon almost three seventy five women sat
shoulder to shoulder painting dials. The women used fine camel
hair brushes to paint the small watch dials. The bristles
(09:23):
often separated after the application of radium powder, glue, and water.
To solve this, the girls licked the tip of the
brush and used their lips to smooth the fibers into
a fine point. Now you and I wouldn't imagine doing
such a thing, but the company assured the women that
the mixture was perfectly safe. Besides, the method of lip
(09:44):
pointing was just how it was done. Lip pointing allowed
the women to work faster. Faster work meant more products.
When their work they ended, the girls would paint their nails, lips,
and teeth with radium powder and then meet their dates
for an evening out. Every one knew them. As they
walked out into the night, they simply glowed. But soon
(10:09):
enough the girls began to get sick, and not just
a little sick either. In Nto, Grace Friar, who had
left two years earlier, lost several teeth. Dentists began to
treat a large number of young girls with abscesses and
rotting jaws. When one dentist asked us radium for the
paint's formula, they refused. Dr Kenefe treated Molly, a young
(10:33):
girl who complained that the pain in her face had
become unbearable. Gently, Dr Keneife pressed a finger to Molly's jaw,
accidentally causing the bone to break. When he looked inside
her mouth, he discovered a piece of exposed bone. All
he had to do was lift the fragment from her mouth.
A week later, Dr Kenefe simply pulled out the remainder
(10:55):
of Molly's lower jaw. No incisions or operation required. Other
dentists experienced similar issues with their patients. One doctor reported
a case of poisoning by phosphorus to the Industrial Hygiene
Division on December. Upon visiting US Radiums factory, the inspector
(11:15):
called attention to the technique of lip pointing. I've warned
them it's dangerous, Harold Vite, US Radiums vice president told
the inspector as they watched the girls put the brushes
to their lips again and again. I've pulled them repeatedly,
but they won't stop. This was, of course, a direct
contradiction to telling the girls the material was absolutely harmless.
(11:38):
Yet four months earlier they had written an internal article
on the dangers of radium, and it wasn't the first either.
The company later admitted ten such internal memos existed, some
dating back to nineteen o six. In the end, the
Public Health Services report found only a couple of cases
with side effects connected to the radium paint, one case
(12:00):
of skin erosion and one case of anemia. The Health
Services formal recommendation take care when handling radium and what
that meant was vague at best. Meanwhile, and despite the investigation,
women continued to die. The most gruesome of deaths, deaths
the company claimed were due to syphilis. Doctors and dentists
(12:26):
didn't agree and felt certain that the women were dying
from radium. They called for US Radium to shut down.
Complaints to the Department of Labor and the Public Health
Services fell on deaf ears, though even a letter asking
for help from the National Consumers Leak went unanswered. No one,
it seemed, cared much about the health or working conditions
(12:47):
of the young women. An independent study in found a
direct correlation between radium and the deaths and illnesses of
the women. Outraged, US Radium paid researchers to prove radium safety.
The company's president also claimed the women were attempting to
extract money from the company for their health issues. Still,
(13:10):
the rumors flew, and when two doctors from the Harvard
School of Public Health asked US Radiums president if they
could do a case study, he saw an opportunity. After
interviewing chemists and twenty five women painters, the Harvard doctors
delivered their report two weeks later. Fight handed over part
(13:31):
of the Harvard report to the Department of Labor, claiming
the report clearly showed that employee blood work was perfectly normal.
That was only part of the report, though Harvard had
a table for each ingredient used. Right removed the report
on radium, which concluded enough evidence regarding over exposure. When
(13:52):
the Harvard doctors caught wind of the emission, they decided
to publish their own report. As you can imagine, this
didn't go over well with Light. He threatened a lawsuit
on behalf of US Radium, claiming the Harvard doctors had
signed a confidentiality contract. Meanwhile, the women kept dying. In
(14:21):
another US Radium employee died, this time was different. Officials
took notice. The employee you see was mail Shortly after
the new investigation started, a new doctor assigned to the
case finally found proof that the women had overexposure to radium.
Not only were their bodies emitting radiation, but the material
(14:43):
was punching holes in their bones. Grace Friar, who had
experienced earlier tooth loss, now had a deteriorating spine. Another
girl's jawbone had disintegrated into nothing more than a stump.
The doctors even determined that the women's l eggs were
shortening from bone loss, and one woman, upon looking at herself,
(15:04):
in the mirror one night, noticed that her skin actually
glowed in the dark. All of this sounds horrific, and
yes it was, but the radiation wasn't done with the women.
Their illnesses would continue to worsen over time. Grace Fryer
knew this is how she would die. According to the doctors,
(15:25):
there was no cure, no slowing the radiation inside her,
so she decided to take on us Radium in court.
For two years, she searched for an attorney to take
the case. Finally, on May eighth, a young lawyer named
Raymond Barry accepted her case, filing the suit on Grace's
behalf entirely on contingency. Four more women soon joined her,
(15:50):
Edna Husman, Katherine shob and sisters Quintin McDonald and Albina Luis.
Each woman asked for two d and fifty thousand dollars
for medical expenses and compensation. There were obstacles to overcome, though,
the first new Jersey's two year statute of limitations, the
second living long enough to see the case through. Us
(16:14):
Radium responded to Barry's filing, first by attacking his character
and then by going to the bar and threatening charges
Barry remained undaunted, though medical examiners in both New York
and New Jersey were looking into employee deaths, and of course,
there were newspaper reporters. Once the story leaked to the press,
(16:34):
it became a front page headline. Day after day, the
papers printed a new story the women's suffering, US Radium's defense,
speculation on how the women would spend their quarter million
dollar windfall if they won, and even stories about the
effects of Radium and how much longer the women had
to live. It's hard to imagine what it was like
for those women, knowing they would die, but still reading
(16:57):
headlines that all but predicted it. The newspapers reported Barry's
stance on his client's health. He said, when you have
heard that you are going to die, that there's no hope,
and every newspaper you pick up, Prince, what really amounts
to your obituary. There is nothing else. US Radium managed
(17:19):
to keep the case going through n all while each
of the defendants health predictably worsened. In January, Grace and
the other women became so sick that raising their arms
to take the oath in court proved impossible. In April,
their health deteriorated to the point they could no longer
tend court hearings. Hearing this news, Marie Currey offered her
(17:43):
deepest condolences. Regrettably, she confirmed that there was no cure,
no way of destroying or removing Radium once in the body.
Carrie went on to strongly suggest that changing the way
Radium was handled was imperative for the safety of those
working with it. The Radium gard who had held out
hope for so long, we're grief stricken. The case between
(18:06):
US Radium and the women ultimately became a waiting game.
The company used one delay tactic after another on a
despite Barry's objections, the judge postponed the case until September,
the reason U S Radiums witnesses planned on vacationing in
Europe all summer long. Barry's worst fears seemed to becoming true.
(18:29):
US Radium was stalling. The company was hedging their bets
that the women would die before the trial. Public support
for the women's sword the Radium girls plight continued to
dominate the headlines. Pictures of Grace and the others being
wheeled in and out of court shocked the nation, and
photos of the damage done to them enraged the public.
(18:50):
Us Radium, in an attempt to subdue public outcry, hired
a consultant from Columbia University to run tests and hold
a press conference on its findings. Consultant Frederick Flynn, stood
before a crowd of spectators and press and declared that
the women could survive their illnesses, and even more unbelievably,
the tests showed no trace of radioactivity in the women.
(19:14):
The press turned to the women's lawyer for a response. Again,
Barry remained undaunted. He simply replied he'd c u S
Radium in court. With continued public outrage and pressure on
the New Jersey court system, the trial date was moved
up to early June. Of Meanwhile, sympathy cards inundated the
(19:37):
women's homes, along with letters from scammers looking to profit
from the women claiming they had a cure. With growing
empathy and compassion from the public, going to court started
to look a lot less favorable to us Radium. A
judge offered to mediate and the company sat down with
Barry to negotiate a settlement. Within days of the trial,
(19:57):
they reached an agreement each of the men would get
just ten thousand dollars up front and a six d
dollar yearly annuity. The company also agreed to pay all
their current and future medical expenses. In doing so, though
US Radium became the first company in American history to
be held responsible for the health of their employees. For
(20:19):
the Radium Girls, the settlement was a far cry from
two d and fifty thousand dollars. Some of the women
died within months of the agreement. Grace Fryar passed away
a few years later at the age of thirty four,
her spine shattered and all her teeth gone. She was
unable to even sit without a back brace to hold
her upright. It may sound like justice wasn't fully served,
(20:42):
and maybe that's true. The women paid the ultimate price,
after all, and their deaths have been nothing short of brutal,
but their legacy has outlived them. Five women stood up
to a goliath corporation. Their case set the president for
suits involving environmental cancers and even helped form occupational hazard
law for employees, laws that are still saving lives today.
(21:06):
Grace and the others lost their lives to it, but
Radium would never match their grit or inner glow or
be as fierce as they turned out to be, They
truly were the Radium Girls. Marie Curry knew a lot
(21:29):
about tenacity and grit. She lost Pierre in nineteen o
six to an unfortunate accident. Dedicated to serving science and
helping others, Marie used her skills and resources during World
War One to invent portable X rays for use in
the field, called affectionately Little Curies later, Marie joined forces
with Albert Einstein and Max Plunk at the Congress of
(21:51):
Physics for the trio discussed groundbreaking discoveries in their field.
Marie's love of her glowing radium became her life's work.
She understood radium's power and that just because it occurred
naturally didn't mean that it was altogether safe. Although she
saw the promise the good in radium, others wielded the
other side of the sword, using it for profit and
(22:14):
at great cost to others. Marie Curie lived to be
sixty six, passing away on July fourty four from a
plastic anemia caused, of course, by radiation. As a woman scientist,
she overcame a lot of obstacles, and her enduring spirit
still serves as an inspiration to other women in the field.
(22:35):
Her daughter, Irene became a physicist and her granddaughter became
a nuclear physicist. Countless educational and research facilities also bear
her name, including the Cury Institute. Officials moved Marie's remains
to the Pantheon in Paris, where she became the first
woman ever to be buried among the greatest minds of France.
Her notebooks are also considered both the national and scientific treasure.
(22:59):
There kept safe in France's National Library in Paris, You're
not likely to see them, though not without signing a
liability waiver and wearing protective gear. You see, Marie's notebooks
are still highly radioactive, as are her physical remains, and
they will be for a very long time until the
year thirty five thirty four. There's more to this story.
(23:26):
Stick around after the brief sponsor break to hear all
about it. Eben Buyers had it all. He was the
president of the world largest steel corporation, the A. M.
Buyer's Company in Pittsburgh and a well known former professional golfer.
But while celebrating a board a party train after a
(23:47):
Harvard Yale football game, he injured an arm in a
fall Upon returning home, he followed up with his physician.
His doctor recommended a drink to help him heal. Rate
it Thor was made by Bailey Radium Laboratories in East Orange,
New Jersey, and it boasted all the benefits of radium
in a convenient drink. Thinking more was better, buyers drank
(24:11):
three of the two ounce bottles a day every day.
The drink was extremely expensive, as you might guess, but
buyers could easily afford it. At first, he felt invigorated,
so much so that he bought cases of Rate of
Thor for his colleagues. He owned race horses, and he
made sure they were given Rate A Thor two. Buyers,
having once been known for his smooth moves with the ladies,
(24:33):
found that Rate of Thor helped him regain his virility
as well. Naturally, his many girlfriends also had plentiful stashes
of the drink. The guy was rich. Things went well
for buyers until his teeth began to fall out in ninety.
After he complained, the Federal Trade Commission sent an investigator
out to his estate. Amid the extravagant setting, they couldn't
(24:57):
have been met with a more grizzly sight. Half of
Buyer's face had disintegrated, two small teeth jutted from his
upper jaw, and his lower jaw and chin had decomposed.
Bandages wrapped his head to cover the holes large enough
to see his brain, and much like the Radium girls,
bones throughout his body had disintegrated as well. Yes, Eban
(25:21):
Buyers was still alive. Speaking, as you can imagine, was
difficult for him. He had endured two surgeries already, one
to remove most of his decade upper jaw and another
to remove a part of the lower portion. Still, he
managed to testify about raded Thor. The FTC filed a
cease and desist letter to Bailey Radium Laboratories on December nineteenth.
(25:46):
Not only did the government want the company to stop
claiming the drink had therapeutic value, they wanted them to
stop promising that it was harmless. The manufacturer didn't fight
like US Radium had. After the testimony of Eban Buyers,
the company sty making radith Or entirely. Later on, the
founder claimed he went out of business due to depression
and not anything to do with the FTC IS investigation.
(26:09):
When Ebben Buyers passed away in two the press covered
it extensively. Being wealthy and well connected had made Buyers
a celebrity of sorts, and having died from radiation poisoning,
he was buried in a coffin lined with lead, and
his death spurred the ninety eight Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act,
which outlawed deceptive packaging. In nineteen sixty thirty three years
(26:33):
after Buyer's death, an m I T scientist exhumed the
man's remains. Buyer's skeleton still contained the same amount of
radiation as the day he died. Like Marie Curry and
the Radium Girls, his remains will be radioactive for centuries
to come. American Shadows is hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This
(26:59):
episode was written by Michelle Muto with researcher Robin Miniter,
and produced by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive
producers Aaron Minky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn
more about the show, visit Grim and Mile dot com.
For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, visit the I
Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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