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The Radium Girls — still glowing in their coffins
Posted on 5/9/17 at 8:37 am
Posted on 5/9/17 at 8:37 am
quote:
On the morning of 15 October 1927, a dim, autumn day, a group of men foregathered at the Rosedale cemetery in New Jersey and picked their way through the headstones to the grave of one Amelia — ‘Mollie’ — Maggia. An employee of the United States Radium Corporation (USRC), she had died five years earlier, aged 24. To the dismay of her friends and family the cause of death had been recorded as syphilis, but, as her coffin was exhumed and its lid levered open, Mollie’s corpse was seen to be aglow with a ‘soft luminescence’. Everyone present knew what that meant.
LINK
This post was edited on 5/9/17 at 8:38 am
15
Posted on 5/9/17 at 8:38 am to Darth_Vader
I'm currently reading this book. Very interesting.
Just craziness the radium craze back then. They had no clue how bad the stuff was. People ate it in their butter to improve their health.
Just craziness the radium craze back then. They had no clue how bad the stuff was. People ate it in their butter to improve their health.
Posted on 5/9/17 at 8:39 am to Darth_Vader
quote:
the cause of death had been recorded as syphilis
What a whore.
Posted on 5/9/17 at 8:42 am to lsunurse
I link to an article about these girls came across my FB feed the other day. These poor girls went through pure hell because of this stuff. I remember they described how one girl was sitting there picking out portions of her hollowed out jaw bone that had become espoused. Imagine the horror she had to be going through, Others had gruesome growths on different parts of their bodies. Just terrible.
Posted on 5/9/17 at 8:42 am to Darth_Vader
no pic of body?
Posted on 5/9/17 at 8:43 am to CarRamrod
Here ya go pal
Posted on 5/9/17 at 8:43 am to Darth_Vader
Did you dig them up again?
Posted on 5/9/17 at 8:44 am to Darth_Vader
quote:
Everyone present knew what that meant.
Syphilis makes you glow?
Posted on 5/9/17 at 8:44 am to CarRamrod
quote:
no pic of body?
None that I can find. Plus this was a time when color photos were extremely rare.
Posted on 5/9/17 at 8:46 am to Darth_Vader
The radium goes straight to their bones and just eats away at the bones. They mention that the radium could stay in their bones for like 1600 years. Again...a very interesting book so far.
And it takes years for them to start getting sick. So trying to prove at first it was their jobs killing them was difficult.
I'm reading the part of the book where those poor girls had to fight to get money in lawsuits from USRC.
And it takes years for them to start getting sick. So trying to prove at first it was their jobs killing them was difficult.
I'm reading the part of the book where those poor girls had to fight to get money in lawsuits from USRC.
Posted on 5/9/17 at 9:02 am to lsunurse
quote:
And it takes years for them to start getting sick. So trying to prove at first it was their jobs killing them was difficult
The article I read on FB mentioned this. I think the statute of limitations on filing a work related illness or injury at that time was 2 years. But the symptoms for these girls didn't start showing up for 5 years.
Posted on 5/9/17 at 9:06 am to lsunurse
quote:
The radium goes straight to their bones and just eats away at the bones. They mention that the radium could stay in their bones for like 1600 years. Again...a very interesting book so far.
They said the first idea that anything was wrong was usually trouble with their teeth. One girl went to her dentist to get a tooth pulled and when the dentist touched the tooth to see how loose it was, it just came out in his hand along with a chunk of her jaw bone. I can't imagine having to deal with that.
Posted on 5/9/17 at 9:06 am to Darth_Vader
quote:
Mollie’s corpse was seen to be aglow with a ‘soft luminescence’.
Some girls have all the luck.
Posted on 5/9/17 at 9:11 am to SidewalkDawg
Many of these poor girls died horrible slow deaths...
Posted on 5/9/17 at 9:13 am to ScottFowler
quote:
Many of these poor girls died horrible slow deaths...
But with a soft glow that most women can only dream of.
Posted on 5/9/17 at 9:18 am to SidewalkDawg
quote:
But with a soft glow that most women can only dream of.
Wonder if the soft glow was enough to make them overlook things like missing their lower jaw?
Posted on 5/9/17 at 9:29 am to Darth_Vader
This has eerie similarities to the London match stick girls of the late 19th century.
Wiki
Those girls working with white phosphorus would develop jaw necrosis that would cause their jaws to just deteriorate and fall off leading to horrific facial deformities. As much as I deplore governmental regulatory intrusion into our lives it just goes to prove how careless and cruel workers were treated in the past.
Wiki
Those girls working with white phosphorus would develop jaw necrosis that would cause their jaws to just deteriorate and fall off leading to horrific facial deformities. As much as I deplore governmental regulatory intrusion into our lives it just goes to prove how careless and cruel workers were treated in the past.
Posted on 5/9/17 at 9:40 am to bengalbait
Some of the dentists that first treated the radium girls actually thought the dial paint had phosphorus in it. They knew about "phossy" jaw and assumed at first the girls had that.
There was no concern whatsoever about the radium at first. They thought radium was practically harmless.
There was no concern whatsoever about the radium at first. They thought radium was practically harmless.
Posted on 5/9/17 at 9:41 am to lsunurse
I bet her teeth were white AF tho.
Posted on 5/9/17 at 9:44 am to bengalbait
quote:
As much as I deplore governmental regulatory intrusion into our lives
Let's be honest.
We need some government regulation. People who want everything 100% deregulated have no concept of the history of the working class.
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