1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:04,480 Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart 2 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:09,080 Speaker 1: Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Mankey listener discretion advised. 3 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:21,799 Speaker 1: It's beautiful, she told her husband. It was Christmas time 4 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:26,079 Speaker 1: in Paris, but Marie and Pierre weren't looking at the 5 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: glow of Paris city lights and soft snowfall. The couple 6 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: were inside a dilapidated brick building that purchased as a 7 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: makeshift laboratory, sitting on well worn chairs and odd wooden 8 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: work table littered with an array of flimsy wires, scopes, 9 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:44,199 Speaker 1: and cheap instruments. A radiant, almost magical light broke the 10 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: darkness surrounding them, and Marie found the luminescent glow captivating. 11 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: Having married just three years earlier, when Marie was twenty 12 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: seven and Pierre was thirty six, the two didn't have 13 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: a lot of money. Yet despite the tottering chairs, odd 14 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: work tables, and the isolation chamber made out of wooden 15 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: grocery crates, the couple couldn't be happier. Science had brought 16 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:07,959 Speaker 1: them together, and their love of it had become an 17 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: intimate bond between them. So Marie looked on the beautiful 18 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: gleaming object still nestled deep within one of her pockets, 19 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: The shimmering glow bright enough to allow Pierre to drop 20 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: down a single word in their notebook. They chose a 21 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: name for it, after the Latin word for ray. They 22 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: called it radium. Before long, though, this new discovery would 23 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:32,760 Speaker 1: enchant more than just the Curies. The whole world was 24 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: about to encounter a scientific miracle, and soon enough, interest 25 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: in it would transform into obsession. But as we're about 26 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 1: to find out, not all obsessions are good for us. 27 00:01:46,640 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome to American Shadows. It all started 28 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 1: back in February of Marie and Pierre had immersed themselves 29 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: in their lab. Marie began working with a heavy black 30 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 1: substance known as pitch blend, noting that the naturally occurring 31 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:17,239 Speaker 1: mineral contained uranium. After that uranium had been removed, though 32 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: the material left behind was still highly radioactive. When she 33 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:26,959 Speaker 1: studied those remains, Marie discovered an unknown luminous element. The 34 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,920 Speaker 1: couple worked tirelessly. Days after completing their notes, the Kerries 35 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: announced their discovery to the French Academy of Sciences on December, 36 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 1: and radium quickly became a breakthrough discovery. The substance destroyed 37 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: human tissue, but as ghastly as that sounds, scientists around 38 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 1: the world would soon put that property to use in 39 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:51,640 Speaker 1: the fight against cancer. Radium didn't disappoint either. Its effect 40 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:55,840 Speaker 1: on CANCERUS tumors proved nothing short of astounding. Newspapers printed 41 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: articles that speculated on everything from the use of radium 42 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 1: as for alizer to supercharge the growth of crops, to 43 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: using it to make brilliantly glowing candies and shimmering cocktails. 44 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: There were seemingly practical uses to Companies marketed paint for 45 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:14,919 Speaker 1: reflective house numbers. Radium Christmas tree lights were touted as 46 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 1: being much safer than candles. Glowing light switches made it 47 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 1: easier to find them in a dark room. In certain pharmacies, 48 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: people bought radium laced pills and bandages. New types of 49 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: clinics and spas opened up, promising a variety of radium 50 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,239 Speaker 1: induced health benefits if you could afford them. That is, 51 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: In nineteen o four, a Manhattan based company produced a 52 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: patented health water called Liquid Sunshine. The same company also 53 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: created and sold a glow in the Dark ink. Another 54 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: company made glow in the dark eyes for children's toys 55 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: now creepy glowing doll eyes in the middle of the night. 56 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 1: Aside radiums, luminescence was indeed stunningly beautiful, and other products 57 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: soon follow drinks, elixirs, salt soaps, and even suppositories. Many 58 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: products claimed radium cured everything from agnet, awartz, and just 59 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: about every ailment in between for the general public, though 60 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: most of these products were sham most didn't contain any 61 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: radium at all because the stuff was outrageously expensive. In 62 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: nineteen fifteen, a graham of radium costs eight four thousand, 63 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 1: five hundred dollars that's one point nine million dollars in 64 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,360 Speaker 1: today's economy, making it one of the most expensive elements 65 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:34,040 Speaker 1: on Earth in its day, so, as you might expect, 66 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: only the super rich were able to purchase anything with 67 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:39,919 Speaker 1: much radium in it. That didn't stop the wave of 68 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,279 Speaker 1: products or the people who clamored for them. Though radium 69 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: toothpaste promised to dazzle smiles, intensifying the brightness with every brushing. 70 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: Radior cosmetics sold creams, rouge, and powders designed to restore 71 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: that youthful glow. Companies made radium butter and radium milk. 72 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,120 Speaker 1: Even clothing like lingerie and jock straps boasted radium to 73 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 1: boost virility. No wonder, officials began to warn citizens to 74 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:08,719 Speaker 1: be on the lookout for radium scams. Companies found instant 75 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 1: wealth in radium. Factories cropped up to meet the demand 76 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: for radium enhanced products, and they didn't just build factories 77 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:19,359 Speaker 1: in cities. Factories were built in the suburbs too. Radium 78 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:23,800 Speaker 1: seemed to be everywhere, and demand for its skyrocketed, while 79 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: more and more commercial products continued to emerge. Medical science, 80 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: enamored with radium's groundbreaking use for cancer, researched the elements 81 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: impact on other diseases. Sick patients began to call for 82 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 1: treatment with radium. Doctors even wondered if radium might help 83 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: them not only treat cancer, but actually cure it. In 84 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: the early nineteen hundreds, radium was referred to as one 85 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:53,239 Speaker 1: of history's greatest finds. In nineteen o three, Marie Curry 86 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,040 Speaker 1: became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in physics. 87 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: In nineteen eleven, she was awarded a second Nobel Prize, 88 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: taking her the first scientists to win two of these awards. 89 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: Radium prompted the U s Surgeon General at the time 90 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: to say that the element reminded him of a mythological 91 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:13,839 Speaker 1: super being. An English physician called radium the unknown God. 92 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 1: Some had even said radium had been predicted in the Bible. 93 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: Within a few short years, radium's future grew to be 94 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:24,720 Speaker 1: the new, bright and shiny object, bigger and brighter than 95 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: a full moon on a clear night in the world. 96 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:32,120 Speaker 1: Mesmerized by its brilliance and allure couldn't get enough. But 97 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:36,480 Speaker 1: as it turned out, Marie's beautiful, glowing miracle had a 98 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:47,040 Speaker 1: darker side. Radium occurs naturally in our soil, groundwater, food, 99 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: in small doses, usually one picogram or less per gram 100 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 1: of soil. For perspective, Marie Carey sifted through tons of 101 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:57,719 Speaker 1: pitch blend just to find one tenth of a gram 102 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: of radium. Without getting too technical, the amount of radium 103 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: would contact through soil is probably negligible. Still, radium is 104 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: about a million times more radioactive than uranium in much 105 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: larger amounts. Though radium can cause anemia, cataracts, fractured teeth, 106 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:19,760 Speaker 1: ulcerated skin, lung cancer, and various forms of bone cancers 107 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: like leukemia. While the curies knew about radioactive material. Little 108 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 1: was understood about the long term effects on humans, and 109 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: sure radium could destroy tumors, but it also killed off 110 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: healthy tissue as well. But who could fault them? The 111 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:40,160 Speaker 1: Curies were physicists, after all, not physicians. Besides, tests for 112 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: radium exposure simply didn't exist. Then in nineteen seventeen, the 113 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:47,600 Speaker 1: end of World War One was still a year away. 114 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 1: In the United States, Patriotism was as common as apple pie. 115 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:54,880 Speaker 1: The economy was booming, and women took jobs and factories 116 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: while the men were off fighting in the war. The 117 00:07:57,320 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 1: popularity of radium was still soaring. A company called the 118 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 1: US Radium Corporation patented un Dark, a blowing paint made 119 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:09,880 Speaker 1: from radium. While they specialized in watching clock dials, that 120 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: also signed a profitable contract with the US government to 121 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: use un Dark on gun sites and ship compasses for 122 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: nighttime use. US Radium set up shop in Orange, New Jersey, 123 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: right in the middle of a residential neighborhood. Huge windows 124 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 1: surrounded the two story brick building, and more light streamed 125 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: in from above. All that light was both charming and 126 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: perfect for painting, and while they painted dials and instruments, 127 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: the women workers enjoyed a beautiful view of the neighborhood. 128 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:44,559 Speaker 1: US Radium hired single immigrants Italian mostly. They paid them well, too, 129 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:48,439 Speaker 1: often three times more than factory workers. The women brought 130 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: home three d and seventy dollars a week, which was 131 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 1: just over nineteen thousand dollars a year the fast ones, though, 132 00:08:55,559 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: they often doubled that, making them the top five percent 133 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 1: of female way journers. Painting dials became a highly sought 134 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:07,320 Speaker 1: after dream job. Demand for luminescent dials continued to grow. 135 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: When US Radium needed more painters, the girls hold their 136 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:15,439 Speaker 1: family and friends. Soon almost three seventy five women sat 137 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:20,080 Speaker 1: shoulder to shoulder painting dials. The women used fine camel 138 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,560 Speaker 1: hair brushes to paint the small watch dials. The bristles 139 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:27,079 Speaker 1: often separated after the application of radium powder, glue, and water. 140 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: To solve this, the girls licked the tip of the 141 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 1: brush and used their lips to smooth the fibers into 142 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: a fine point. Now you and I wouldn't imagine doing 143 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 1: such a thing, but the company assured the women that 144 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: the mixture was perfectly safe. Besides, the method of lip 145 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 1: pointing was just how it was done. Lip pointing allowed 146 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:51,079 Speaker 1: the women to work faster. Faster work meant more products. 147 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:55,560 Speaker 1: When their work they ended, the girls would paint their nails, lips, 148 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,319 Speaker 1: and teeth with radium powder and then meet their dates 149 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:01,280 Speaker 1: for an evening out. Every one knew them. As they 150 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: walked out into the night, they simply glowed. But soon 151 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: enough the girls began to get sick, and not just 152 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:17,120 Speaker 1: a little sick either. In Nto, Grace Friar, who had 153 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 1: left two years earlier, lost several teeth. Dentists began to 154 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:23,920 Speaker 1: treat a large number of young girls with abscesses and 155 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: rotting jaws. When one dentist asked us radium for the 156 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 1: paint's formula, they refused. Dr Kenefe treated Molly, a young 157 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:36,160 Speaker 1: girl who complained that the pain in her face had 158 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:41,320 Speaker 1: become unbearable. Gently, Dr Keneife pressed a finger to Molly's jaw, 159 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 1: accidentally causing the bone to break. When he looked inside 160 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:48,880 Speaker 1: her mouth, he discovered a piece of exposed bone. All 161 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:51,160 Speaker 1: he had to do was lift the fragment from her mouth. 162 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:55,840 Speaker 1: A week later, Dr Kenefe simply pulled out the remainder 163 00:10:55,880 --> 00:11:01,680 Speaker 1: of Molly's lower jaw. No incisions or operation required. Other 164 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: dentists experienced similar issues with their patients. One doctor reported 165 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:09,200 Speaker 1: a case of poisoning by phosphorus to the Industrial Hygiene 166 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 1: Division on December. Upon visiting US Radiums factory, the inspector 167 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 1: called attention to the technique of lip pointing. I've warned 168 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:23,319 Speaker 1: them it's dangerous, Harold Vite, US Radiums vice president told 169 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:25,959 Speaker 1: the inspector as they watched the girls put the brushes 170 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 1: to their lips again and again. I've pulled them repeatedly, 171 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:33,840 Speaker 1: but they won't stop. This was, of course, a direct 172 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 1: contradiction to telling the girls the material was absolutely harmless. 173 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:41,440 Speaker 1: Yet four months earlier they had written an internal article 174 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 1: on the dangers of radium, and it wasn't the first either. 175 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 1: The company later admitted ten such internal memos existed, some 176 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:53,520 Speaker 1: dating back to nineteen o six. In the end, the 177 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:56,680 Speaker 1: Public Health Services report found only a couple of cases 178 00:11:56,679 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 1: with side effects connected to the radium paint, one case 179 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,560 Speaker 1: of skin erosion and one case of anemia. The Health 180 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:08,680 Speaker 1: Services formal recommendation take care when handling radium and what 181 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 1: that meant was vague at best. Meanwhile, and despite the investigation, 182 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:17,960 Speaker 1: women continued to die. The most gruesome of deaths, deaths 183 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:26,840 Speaker 1: the company claimed were due to syphilis. Doctors and dentists 184 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: didn't agree and felt certain that the women were dying 185 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:33,280 Speaker 1: from radium. They called for US Radium to shut down. 186 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,440 Speaker 1: Complaints to the Department of Labor and the Public Health 187 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:39,920 Speaker 1: Services fell on deaf ears, though even a letter asking 188 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 1: for help from the National Consumers Leak went unanswered. No one, 189 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:47,880 Speaker 1: it seemed, cared much about the health or working conditions 190 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 1: of the young women. An independent study in found a 191 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 1: direct correlation between radium and the deaths and illnesses of 192 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:02,760 Speaker 1: the women. Outraged, US Radium paid researchers to prove radium safety. 193 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:05,800 Speaker 1: The company's president also claimed the women were attempting to 194 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 1: extract money from the company for their health issues. Still, 195 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: the rumors flew, and when two doctors from the Harvard 196 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:16,800 Speaker 1: School of Public Health asked US Radiums president if they 197 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:22,120 Speaker 1: could do a case study, he saw an opportunity. After 198 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: interviewing chemists and twenty five women painters, the Harvard doctors 199 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:30,960 Speaker 1: delivered their report two weeks later. Fight handed over part 200 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:34,079 Speaker 1: of the Harvard report to the Department of Labor, claiming 201 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: the report clearly showed that employee blood work was perfectly normal. 202 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 1: That was only part of the report, though Harvard had 203 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:47,439 Speaker 1: a table for each ingredient used. Right removed the report 204 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 1: on radium, which concluded enough evidence regarding over exposure. When 205 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:55,840 Speaker 1: the Harvard doctors caught wind of the emission, they decided 206 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: to publish their own report. As you can imagine, this 207 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: didn't go over well with Light. He threatened a lawsuit 208 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,120 Speaker 1: on behalf of US Radium, claiming the Harvard doctors had 209 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:20,280 Speaker 1: signed a confidentiality contract. Meanwhile, the women kept dying. In 210 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 1: another US Radium employee died, this time was different. Officials 211 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: took notice. The employee you see was mail Shortly after 212 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 1: the new investigation started, a new doctor assigned to the 213 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:39,920 Speaker 1: case finally found proof that the women had overexposure to radium. 214 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 1: Not only were their bodies emitting radiation, but the material 215 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:48,520 Speaker 1: was punching holes in their bones. Grace Friar, who had 216 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 1: experienced earlier tooth loss, now had a deteriorating spine. Another 217 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,840 Speaker 1: girl's jawbone had disintegrated into nothing more than a stump. 218 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:00,400 Speaker 1: The doctors even determined that the women's l eggs were 219 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: shortening from bone loss, and one woman, upon looking at herself, 220 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 1: in the mirror one night, noticed that her skin actually 221 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:12,080 Speaker 1: glowed in the dark. All of this sounds horrific, and 222 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:16,160 Speaker 1: yes it was, but the radiation wasn't done with the women. 223 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:21,560 Speaker 1: Their illnesses would continue to worsen over time. Grace Fryer 224 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:24,880 Speaker 1: knew this is how she would die. According to the doctors, 225 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: there was no cure, no slowing the radiation inside her, 226 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:31,640 Speaker 1: so she decided to take on us Radium in court. 227 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 1: For two years, she searched for an attorney to take 228 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:40,640 Speaker 1: the case. Finally, on May eighth, a young lawyer named 229 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:44,440 Speaker 1: Raymond Barry accepted her case, filing the suit on Grace's 230 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 1: behalf entirely on contingency. Four more women soon joined her, 231 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: Edna Husman, Katherine shob and sisters Quintin McDonald and Albina Luis. 232 00:15:56,720 --> 00:15:59,520 Speaker 1: Each woman asked for two d and fifty thousand dollars 233 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:05,120 Speaker 1: for medical expenses and compensation. There were obstacles to overcome, though, 234 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:10,120 Speaker 1: the first new Jersey's two year statute of limitations, the 235 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 1: second living long enough to see the case through. Us 236 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:18,000 Speaker 1: Radium responded to Barry's filing, first by attacking his character 237 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 1: and then by going to the bar and threatening charges 238 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:26,160 Speaker 1: Barry remained undaunted, though medical examiners in both New York 239 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 1: and New Jersey were looking into employee deaths, and of course, 240 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: there were newspaper reporters. Once the story leaked to the press, 241 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 1: it became a front page headline. Day after day, the 242 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:42,640 Speaker 1: papers printed a new story the women's suffering, US Radium's defense, 243 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: speculation on how the women would spend their quarter million 244 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,760 Speaker 1: dollar windfall if they won, and even stories about the 245 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: effects of Radium and how much longer the women had 246 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: to live. It's hard to imagine what it was like 247 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:57,440 Speaker 1: for those women, knowing they would die, but still reading 248 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 1: headlines that all but predicted it. The newspapers reported Barry's 249 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:04,520 Speaker 1: stance on his client's health. He said, when you have 250 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 1: heard that you are going to die, that there's no hope, 251 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:10,000 Speaker 1: and every newspaper you pick up, Prince, what really amounts 252 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:19,000 Speaker 1: to your obituary. There is nothing else. US Radium managed 253 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:22,480 Speaker 1: to keep the case going through n all while each 254 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:28,760 Speaker 1: of the defendants health predictably worsened. In January, Grace and 255 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:31,760 Speaker 1: the other women became so sick that raising their arms 256 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:35,600 Speaker 1: to take the oath in court proved impossible. In April, 257 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 1: their health deteriorated to the point they could no longer 258 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:43,119 Speaker 1: tend court hearings. Hearing this news, Marie Currey offered her 259 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 1: deepest condolences. Regrettably, she confirmed that there was no cure, 260 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:50,879 Speaker 1: no way of destroying or removing Radium once in the body. 261 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:54,360 Speaker 1: Carrie went on to strongly suggest that changing the way 262 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:57,360 Speaker 1: Radium was handled was imperative for the safety of those 263 00:17:57,359 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 1: working with it. The Radium gard who had held out 264 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:06,200 Speaker 1: hope for so long, we're grief stricken. The case between 265 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,200 Speaker 1: US Radium and the women ultimately became a waiting game. 266 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:13,199 Speaker 1: The company used one delay tactic after another on a 267 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:19,000 Speaker 1: despite Barry's objections, the judge postponed the case until September, 268 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:24,000 Speaker 1: the reason U S Radiums witnesses planned on vacationing in 269 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 1: Europe all summer long. Barry's worst fears seemed to becoming true. 270 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 1: US Radium was stalling. The company was hedging their bets 271 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 1: that the women would die before the trial. Public support 272 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:40,560 Speaker 1: for the women's sword the Radium girls plight continued to 273 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:43,680 Speaker 1: dominate the headlines. Pictures of Grace and the others being 274 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:46,639 Speaker 1: wheeled in and out of court shocked the nation, and 275 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:49,080 Speaker 1: photos of the damage done to them enraged the public. 276 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:54,639 Speaker 1: Us Radium, in an attempt to subdue public outcry, hired 277 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:58,000 Speaker 1: a consultant from Columbia University to run tests and hold 278 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:02,200 Speaker 1: a press conference on its findings. Consultant Frederick Flynn, stood 279 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:05,119 Speaker 1: before a crowd of spectators and press and declared that 280 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:09,320 Speaker 1: the women could survive their illnesses, and even more unbelievably, 281 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:12,919 Speaker 1: the tests showed no trace of radioactivity in the women. 282 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 1: The press turned to the women's lawyer for a response. Again, 283 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:22,280 Speaker 1: Barry remained undaunted. He simply replied he'd c u S 284 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:29,879 Speaker 1: Radium in court. With continued public outrage and pressure on 285 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:32,600 Speaker 1: the New Jersey court system, the trial date was moved 286 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 1: up to early June. Of Meanwhile, sympathy cards inundated the 287 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:41,240 Speaker 1: women's homes, along with letters from scammers looking to profit 288 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:44,600 Speaker 1: from the women claiming they had a cure. With growing 289 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: empathy and compassion from the public, going to court started 290 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:51,200 Speaker 1: to look a lot less favorable to us Radium. A 291 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:54,040 Speaker 1: judge offered to mediate and the company sat down with 292 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:57,320 Speaker 1: Barry to negotiate a settlement. Within days of the trial, 293 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:00,800 Speaker 1: they reached an agreement each of the men would get 294 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:03,600 Speaker 1: just ten thousand dollars up front and a six d 295 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:07,359 Speaker 1: dollar yearly annuity. The company also agreed to pay all 296 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: their current and future medical expenses. In doing so, though 297 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:15,320 Speaker 1: US Radium became the first company in American history to 298 00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:19,480 Speaker 1: be held responsible for the health of their employees. For 299 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:22,400 Speaker 1: the Radium Girls, the settlement was a far cry from 300 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,800 Speaker 1: two d and fifty thousand dollars. Some of the women 301 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:29,240 Speaker 1: died within months of the agreement. Grace Fryar passed away 302 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:31,240 Speaker 1: a few years later at the age of thirty four, 303 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 1: her spine shattered and all her teeth gone. She was 304 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:37,840 Speaker 1: unable to even sit without a back brace to hold 305 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:42,640 Speaker 1: her upright. It may sound like justice wasn't fully served, 306 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 1: and maybe that's true. The women paid the ultimate price, 307 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:49,840 Speaker 1: after all, and their deaths have been nothing short of brutal, 308 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:54,399 Speaker 1: but their legacy has outlived them. Five women stood up 309 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:58,119 Speaker 1: to a goliath corporation. Their case set the president for 310 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:02,280 Speaker 1: suits involving environmental cancers and even helped form occupational hazard 311 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 1: law for employees, laws that are still saving lives today. 312 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,639 Speaker 1: Grace and the others lost their lives to it, but 313 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:13,119 Speaker 1: Radium would never match their grit or inner glow or 314 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:16,120 Speaker 1: be as fierce as they turned out to be, They 315 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:29,680 Speaker 1: truly were the Radium Girls. Marie Curry knew a lot 316 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:32,960 Speaker 1: about tenacity and grit. She lost Pierre in nineteen o 317 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:37,000 Speaker 1: six to an unfortunate accident. Dedicated to serving science and 318 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:40,359 Speaker 1: helping others, Marie used her skills and resources during World 319 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:43,000 Speaker 1: War One to invent portable X rays for use in 320 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:48,959 Speaker 1: the field, called affectionately Little Curies later, Marie joined forces 321 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:51,680 Speaker 1: with Albert Einstein and Max Plunk at the Congress of 322 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:55,159 Speaker 1: Physics for the trio discussed groundbreaking discoveries in their field. 323 00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:59,920 Speaker 1: Marie's love of her glowing radium became her life's work. 324 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:04,000 Speaker 1: She understood radium's power and that just because it occurred 325 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:07,639 Speaker 1: naturally didn't mean that it was altogether safe. Although she 326 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 1: saw the promise the good in radium, others wielded the 327 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:14,159 Speaker 1: other side of the sword, using it for profit and 328 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:18,240 Speaker 1: at great cost to others. Marie Curie lived to be 329 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 1: sixty six, passing away on July fourty four from a 330 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:28,600 Speaker 1: plastic anemia caused, of course, by radiation. As a woman scientist, 331 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:32,359 Speaker 1: she overcame a lot of obstacles, and her enduring spirit 332 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 1: still serves as an inspiration to other women in the field. 333 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,880 Speaker 1: Her daughter, Irene became a physicist and her granddaughter became 334 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 1: a nuclear physicist. Countless educational and research facilities also bear 335 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:49,399 Speaker 1: her name, including the Cury Institute. Officials moved Marie's remains 336 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: to the Pantheon in Paris, where she became the first 337 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:54,880 Speaker 1: woman ever to be buried among the greatest minds of France. 338 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:59,120 Speaker 1: Her notebooks are also considered both the national and scientific treasure. 339 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:04,040 Speaker 1: There kept safe in France's National Library in Paris, You're 340 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:06,600 Speaker 1: not likely to see them, though not without signing a 341 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:11,440 Speaker 1: liability waiver and wearing protective gear. You see, Marie's notebooks 342 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:15,760 Speaker 1: are still highly radioactive, as are her physical remains, and 343 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,920 Speaker 1: they will be for a very long time until the 344 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:26,119 Speaker 1: year thirty five thirty four. There's more to this story. 345 00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:28,719 Speaker 1: Stick around after the brief sponsor break to hear all 346 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:37,040 Speaker 1: about it. Eben Buyers had it all. He was the 347 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:39,800 Speaker 1: president of the world largest steel corporation, the A. M. 348 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:43,920 Speaker 1: Buyer's Company in Pittsburgh and a well known former professional golfer. 349 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:47,240 Speaker 1: But while celebrating a board a party train after a 350 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:51,000 Speaker 1: Harvard Yale football game, he injured an arm in a 351 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:54,920 Speaker 1: fall Upon returning home, he followed up with his physician. 352 00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:59,440 Speaker 1: His doctor recommended a drink to help him heal. Rate 353 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:03,280 Speaker 1: it Thor was made by Bailey Radium Laboratories in East Orange, 354 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:06,320 Speaker 1: New Jersey, and it boasted all the benefits of radium 355 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 1: in a convenient drink. Thinking more was better, buyers drank 356 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,879 Speaker 1: three of the two ounce bottles a day every day. 357 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 1: The drink was extremely expensive, as you might guess, but 358 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:21,960 Speaker 1: buyers could easily afford it. At first, he felt invigorated, 359 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 1: so much so that he bought cases of Rate of 360 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:27,119 Speaker 1: Thor for his colleagues. He owned race horses, and he 361 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,640 Speaker 1: made sure they were given Rate A Thor two. Buyers, 362 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:33,560 Speaker 1: having once been known for his smooth moves with the ladies, 363 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:36,400 Speaker 1: found that Rate of Thor helped him regain his virility 364 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:40,640 Speaker 1: as well. Naturally, his many girlfriends also had plentiful stashes 365 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:44,520 Speaker 1: of the drink. The guy was rich. Things went well 366 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:48,080 Speaker 1: for buyers until his teeth began to fall out in ninety. 367 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:52,719 Speaker 1: After he complained, the Federal Trade Commission sent an investigator 368 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:57,119 Speaker 1: out to his estate. Amid the extravagant setting, they couldn't 369 00:24:57,119 --> 00:24:59,840 Speaker 1: have been met with a more grizzly sight. Half of 370 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:04,439 Speaker 1: Buyer's face had disintegrated, two small teeth jutted from his 371 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:07,600 Speaker 1: upper jaw, and his lower jaw and chin had decomposed. 372 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,120 Speaker 1: Bandages wrapped his head to cover the holes large enough 373 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:14,480 Speaker 1: to see his brain, and much like the Radium girls, 374 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:21,240 Speaker 1: bones throughout his body had disintegrated as well. Yes, Eban 375 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:25,199 Speaker 1: Buyers was still alive. Speaking, as you can imagine, was 376 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:29,560 Speaker 1: difficult for him. He had endured two surgeries already, one 377 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,639 Speaker 1: to remove most of his decade upper jaw and another 378 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 1: to remove a part of the lower portion. Still, he 379 00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:40,480 Speaker 1: managed to testify about raded Thor. The FTC filed a 380 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:44,120 Speaker 1: cease and desist letter to Bailey Radium Laboratories on December nineteenth. 381 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:48,119 Speaker 1: Not only did the government want the company to stop 382 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:51,040 Speaker 1: claiming the drink had therapeutic value, they wanted them to 383 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:54,960 Speaker 1: stop promising that it was harmless. The manufacturer didn't fight 384 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 1: like US Radium had. After the testimony of Eban Buyers, 385 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:02,919 Speaker 1: the company sty making radith Or entirely. Later on, the 386 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:05,480 Speaker 1: founder claimed he went out of business due to depression 387 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:08,000 Speaker 1: and not anything to do with the FTC IS investigation. 388 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:13,280 Speaker 1: When Ebben Buyers passed away in two the press covered 389 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:17,040 Speaker 1: it extensively. Being wealthy and well connected had made Buyers 390 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:20,640 Speaker 1: a celebrity of sorts, and having died from radiation poisoning, 391 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 1: he was buried in a coffin lined with lead, and 392 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,560 Speaker 1: his death spurred the ninety eight Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, 393 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:33,359 Speaker 1: which outlawed deceptive packaging. In nineteen sixty thirty three years 394 00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 1: after Buyer's death, an m I T scientist exhumed the 395 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:40,879 Speaker 1: man's remains. Buyer's skeleton still contained the same amount of 396 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:44,879 Speaker 1: radiation as the day he died. Like Marie Curry and 397 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:49,560 Speaker 1: the Radium Girls, his remains will be radioactive for centuries 398 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: to come. American Shadows is hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This 399 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:02,600 Speaker 1: episode was written by Michelle Muto with researcher Robin Miniter, 400 00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:06,760 Speaker 1: and produced by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive 401 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:11,160 Speaker 1: producers Aaron Minky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn 402 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:14,320 Speaker 1: more about the show, visit Grim and Mile dot com. 403 00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:16,920 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, visit the I 404 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:21,080 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.