We’re reading The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women. If you have your hands on a copy, this week we wanted to read up to the end of Chapter 20 and kick off part two. If you haven’t been able to grab a copy, don’t worry, you can catch up later.
For next week, try to read up to the end of Chapter 28.
This week, things began to turn for the women, though their bodies failed them the scientific and medical research around their plights finally begin to shift in their favor. The problem? The industrial and political forces are decidedly against them. With part two, we saw the legal fight begin.
How did you feel about these chapters? How do you feel about the book so far?
Happy young women, then-problems followed by disfiguration and death. Coverups, confusion, science and then some heroes appear. We already knew the villains. Dr. Martland is interesting but so is von Sochocky. Is he going to be a hero. How does one get government to act in a way that punishes the guilty and supports the innocent victims. What makes government act?
The book is so well researched that with the quotes, it almost seems like they were still alive and told the author the story. This is good writing. It's gone from a nice story to a whatizit to a whodunit to a whosegonnafixit true-life tale. The author understands that individuals make small decisions that cause incremental harm and other individuals do or say small things that cause change. He's telling a story of a myriad of people doing small things that create a big effect. It's not big powerful evil-doers and powerful do-gooders but a story of how change is really made most of the time. Not the headlines, but the footnotes that matter.
"The dial-painters fight back had begun" Just like today, it's always amazing the legal, industrial and political forces someone must face to get justice in these type of cases. Also what a stunning turning of events when the County Physician collapsed in the trolley car and died. "The role of what would become the powerfully titled Chief Medical Examiner was now open. Whoever filled it would make or break the case" Of course Dr. Martland was appointed to the position and went on to diagnosis that Radium was the cause. "The girls had been given a death sentence; yet they had also been given the tools to fight their cause-----to fight for justice" Finally, how about The List of the Doomed and just the whole intense journey into despair in those last three pages of Chapter 20?! D is for Death.
Going to level with you, I’m obviously also reading this for the first time so when I was scheduling this week I had hope “oh yeah, let’s end on the first chapter of a new part, that’ll probably be a good optimistic note to end on and well WHOOPS.
My heart just breaks for these young women. They had their whole lives ahead of them but the company just didn't care. Absolutely no remorse.
Happy young women, then-problems followed by disfiguration and death. Coverups, confusion, science and then some heroes appear. We already knew the villains. Dr. Martland is interesting but so is von Sochocky. Is he going to be a hero. How does one get government to act in a way that punishes the guilty and supports the innocent victims. What makes government act?
The book is so well researched that with the quotes, it almost seems like they were still alive and told the author the story. This is good writing. It's gone from a nice story to a whatizit to a whodunit to a whosegonnafixit true-life tale. The author understands that individuals make small decisions that cause incremental harm and other individuals do or say small things that cause change. He's telling a story of a myriad of people doing small things that create a big effect. It's not big powerful evil-doers and powerful do-gooders but a story of how change is really made most of the time. Not the headlines, but the footnotes that matter.
"The dial-painters fight back had begun" Just like today, it's always amazing the legal, industrial and political forces someone must face to get justice in these type of cases. Also what a stunning turning of events when the County Physician collapsed in the trolley car and died. "The role of what would become the powerfully titled Chief Medical Examiner was now open. Whoever filled it would make or break the case" Of course Dr. Martland was appointed to the position and went on to diagnosis that Radium was the cause. "The girls had been given a death sentence; yet they had also been given the tools to fight their cause-----to fight for justice" Finally, how about The List of the Doomed and just the whole intense journey into despair in those last three pages of Chapter 20?! D is for Death.
Going to level with you, I’m obviously also reading this for the first time so when I was scheduling this week I had hope “oh yeah, let’s end on the first chapter of a new part, that’ll probably be a good optimistic note to end on and well WHOOPS.