![]() ![]() Two of these women, Margaret “Peg” Looney and Mary Ellen “Ella” Cruse, are buried in Ottawa’s Saint Columba Cemetery. She and the citizens of her town began holding fundraisers in order to erect the statue that we see today. In 2011, an eighth-grade student from Ottawa, Madeline Piller, read about the Radium Girls and was shocked to find that her town had no memorial for them. Today, it is still the site of 16 areas on the EPA’s National Priorities List because of their high levels of radioactivity. Ottawa still suffers from the radioactive waste left behind by Radium Dial and Luminous Processes. It wasn’t until 1978 that Luminous Processes would shut its doors permanently. However, they reopened not far from their original location with the same management but under a new name: Luminous Processes. After a long and difficult trial the girls managed to win their case against the company and, in the process, reformed several of Illinois’ laws regarding the rights of workers.įollowing the controversy and poor sales due to economic recession and bad press, Radium Dial shut down the factory. After two of the former dial painters died, some of the remaining Ottawa dial painters and their families filed suit against Radium Dial. One by one, the girls began to lose their teeth, pieces of their jaws, and their ability to walk. They were never given the results of their exams.Įventually, the girls began to develop symptoms similar to those of the dial painters in New Jersey. In response, Radium dial ran a full-page ad that claimed radium had been determined to be safe and (if that wasn’t enough) hired “company doctors” to examine the girls and give each of them a clean bill of health. When news of the trial spread to Ottawa, the girls at Radium Dial began to raise concerns to management. Radium’s previous employees filed a lawsuit against the company. After the death of a former dial painter in New Jersey, several of U.S. The effects of long-term exposure to radium weren’t yet understood, and the girls were told that they would actually benefit from ingesting the paint. Instead, they were taught to clean and shape their brushes by licking them, in a practice called “lip dipping.” The effects of this dangerous method wouldn’t be seen until years later when dial painters began to die from an unexplained illness.Īt the time, radium was regarded as a sort of wonder drug. ![]() However, the girls were not allowed water to clean their brushes as management felt it wasted too much of the expensive radium paint. It didn’t take long for the fine-tipped brushes the girls were using to become caked in paint. The work was fast-paced, and the companies would often cut corners to try to maximize profits. However, dial painting didn’t come without its drawbacks. The girls were paid by the number of watches they completed, and a working class girl could make a very comfortable living if she was skilled at the job. Eventually, they would also paint glowing dials for military equipment during World War II. Their jobs were to paint fine lines and numbers on the faces of watch dials using luminous radium paint. Thousands of women and girls were employed by watch companies, including the Radium Dial Company of Illinois, the Waterbury Clock Company of Connecticut, and the United States Radium Corporation of New Jersey. ![]() In the early 1920’s, wristwatches with glowing dials were a hot ticket item. She is the only physical memorial to the Radium Girls – otherwise known as the Society of the Living Dead. She stands atop a clock face that seems to portend her fate. In her right hand she holds a small paintbrush. In Ottawa, IL, you’ll find a statue of a young woman in 1920’s clothing. ![]()
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