Che la mia ferita sia mortale

The Radium Girls were a famous group of women who worked as dial painters in the late 1910s to the 1920s. While there were dozens of women who worked in these factories, only a small group of women challenged the company they worked for over their illnesses, which they eventually came to believe (rightfully so) were due to the radium they worked with. All other medical professionals and owners of the companies were aware of the dangers, but failed to warn the dial-painters of the dangers of radium, which had previously been marketed as a miracle element. In fact, the luminosity it gave to one’s skin was considered beautiful and desirable.

The girls painted radium onto the dials of watches in the factories, and often tipped the brushes, still coated with radium, in their mouths. Other radium companies also faced lawsuits after the initial court case, as they had used similar procedures. Numerous girls died due to radiation poisoning, and their battle to recognize the source of their suffering was a long and arduous one.