This fall, University High School is presenting D.W.Gregory’s Radium Girls. The story is based on the real-life women who were employed at the U.S. Radium Corporation’s watch-dial painting factory, and who were unknowingly being poisoned on a daily basis by the paint with which they worked.  In the 1920’s, Radium had been shown by Marie Curie to kill cancer cells and was thought to provide multiple health benefits, being incorporated into everything from health and beauty items to luminescent clocks.  However, as many of the girls began to develop mysterious health problems and even die, their search for answers and their battle with the company over compensation dragged on for years.  

The story brings to light the hardships faced by these women as they challenged their employers, navigated the legal system and came under intense public scrutiny. But it is by their efforts and perseverance that many workplace safety regulations are in place today and we are more aware of the grave injustices which laborers have faced over the years.