The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2017

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Part 3, Chapters 53-56Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 3: “Justice”

Chapters 53-55 Summary

After the trial, the women become icons for workers’ rights. Their case leads to a “significant change in the law that protected thousands of vulnerable employees” (435) and “removes a loophole by which corporations could shirk their responsibilities” (435). Pearl Payne writes to Grossman to propose that they form a society that would advocate for workers and provide them with legal aid while lobbying for better legal workplace protections. Grossman held a press conference to announce this and finishes his first legal brief, a copy of which is provided to the press.

Catherine is on her deathbed, visited by friends and family. Thanks to the press coverage, strangers send her letters of solidarity and encouragement, which brings her some comfort.

Grossman continues to work on the long legal briefs, and soon after he hands in the last one, the verdict is announced: Radium Dial is guilty. Judge Marvel orders payment to Catherine of her “past medical expenses, back salary for the entire period” that she couldn’t work, “damages, and an annual life pension of $277 ($4,656) for the remainder of her life” (443). This $5,661 ($95,160) is the maximum under the law.

Two weeks later, Radium Dial files an appeal. During the appeal hearing, Radium Dial asserts that the women were lying about having been instructed to use the brushes, and claims that they had never denied that working with radium was dangerous; this is supported by statements from the Reeds. The women testify to the opposite, and the hearing is closed with a verdict expected on July 10.

Chapter 56 Summary

In a final effort to save themselves, Pearl Payne and Catherine write to Father Keane, a well-known pastor who gives sermons on the radio and prays publicly for his followers. Catherine’s letter to him was published in the newspaper, which prompted thousands of people to send her letters and pray for her.

Soon after, Radium Dial’s appeal is thrown out, but they file an appeal at a court above the Industrial Commission.

Catherine dies peacefully days later on July 27, 1938. An inquest is held the night before her funeral, at which Tom and her doctors give evidence. The jury rules unequivocally that Catherine had “died of radium poisoning absorbed while she was employed in an industrial plant in Ottawa” (464). Her death had been officially acknowledged as linked to her occupation. Hundreds of people attend her funeral, but even on that day, Grossman is in court fighting for Pearl Payne.

Radium Dial is denied the appeal but takes the case all the way to the supreme court, who refuses to hear the case. It is thrown out, and Catherine has officially won.

Part 3, Chapters 53-56 Analysis

Though the final court decision in the women’s favor leaves the book on a positive note, an intense description of Catherine’s final days brings down the mood. Moore leans heavily on the motif of weakness and strength. She writes several times that Catherine’s voice becomes unexpectedly strong when she says things she feels strongly about. For example, Catherine says “unexpectedly with startling effect and strength” (485) that she keeps going through her faith in God. Grossman, too, remarks that “[Catherine’s] voice is going to strike the shackles off the industrial slaves of America” (449). This hyperbole nods to the strength of all the dial-painters during their fight. It also indicates that Grossman believes the court case will have important consequences for other worker’s rights movements going forward.

Catherine’s death is also significant in the progression of the “cause of death” motif. On her death certificate after the inquest, Radium Dial was formally implicated in her death. This is a significant achievement considering the radium companies were never previously acknowledged as the cause of death for so many other workers.