The color of the visible light that they produce.

The type of energy they require to be energized.

Nicole Fontaine is an undergraduate student at Central Connecticut State University pursuing a degree in History Secondary Education. Their tremendous sacrifices were not entirely in vain, however, as their experiences helped scientists better understand the horrifying effects of radium. While many young women died of radium, many others lived longer lives, albeit often in extreme pain. When employers learned of the deadly effects of radium, the company claimed to discourage lip-dipping, but actually relied on the use of the technique for its success. The Waterbury Clock Company placed women into the role of “dial painters” based on the belief that women had nimble fingers and did well at precision tasks. The story of Waterbury’s Radium Girls provides unique insight into women’s history. She worked as a dial painter for only a few months,but still lost all her teeth by the age of 30 and faced numerous battles with cancer. She credited her long life to her love for laziness and eventually being placed in a different position at the Waterbury Clock Company. The last Waterbury Radium Girl, Mae Keane, passed away at the age of 107 in March of 2014. According to the US Atomic Bomb Commission: “If it hadn’t been for those dial painters thousands of workers might well have been, and might still be, in great danger.” These young women, those who died and those who led long, painful lives, helped aid US forces in World War II. As World War II approached, the women were essentially test subjects to the repercussions of radium exposure. The tragic story of the Waterbury Radium Girls helped build a nation. In 1941, the Waterbury Clock Company decided to address some of their employees’ concerns, and due to the risks employees faced on the job, the company agreed with the union to increase wages by two cents.Īn article from the Pittsburgh Press, December 30, 1931, describing the death of Edith Lapiano, 25, a victim of radium poisoning Painful Lessons Learned

This did not only affect workers in Waterbury, but also Illinois and New Jersey, where both states lost 30 to 40 women due to lip-dipping.

But most of the women did not see the effects of lip-dipping until long after the five year requirement, when they developed cancer. This change did not affect some of the women, however, because their symptoms became evident in a very rapid fashion. In 1927, a woman now had only three years to file a claim, rather than the typical five. Due to these expenses, the company decided to change its qualifications for worker’s compensation. Between 19, the company issued over $90,000 in medical settlements. This finally motivated the Waterbury Clock Company to forcefully denounce lip-dipping in their factory.Īfter 1926 it became evident that radium at the Waterbury Clock Company caused illnesses and deaths among their workers.

The following year, Mary Damulis, also in her early twenties, died due to lip-dipping. Just four years later, twenty-two-year-old Mildred Cardow died from working with radium at the Waterbury Clock Company. Although Waterbury Clock Company officials were beginning to understand the effects of radium on their workers, they rejected the company’s connection to Splettstocher’s death (but discouraged lip-dipping after 1925). She suffered the common symptoms and ailments of radium poisoning, such as: anemia, sore throat, deteriorating jaw, soft teeth, spontaneous bone fractures, and aches.

Detail of an advertisement for Waterbury Clock Co.’s Luminous-Sunrise, a part of the Nickel Alarm Clock lineįrances Splettstocher, a woman in her early twenties, was the first to die in the Waterbury Radium Girls tragedy.

Radium glow in the dark