On the morning of 15 October 1927, a dim, autumn day, a group of men foregathered at the Rosedale cemetery in New Jersey and picked their way through the headstones to the grave of one Amelia 'Mollie' Maggia. Radium continued to be used on watch faces until around 1969, but workers operated under much safer conditions. Radium Girls work in a factory of the United States Radium Corporation, circa 1922. Obsessed with travel? Some would even paint the buttons on their dresses or their nails, but the joy of the radium glow was short lived. Touted as a health tonic, Radium was everywhere in the early-to-mid-20th century. watch me livestream: https://www.twitch.tv/corgisaantiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@corgisaanMolly Maggia and Eben Byers were the unlikely few who suffered b. . Visitors to our new special exhibitDeath by Natural Causeswill get to see a number of these products, including a health tonic that was advertised as perpetual sunshine. Excerpt from Kate Moore's book, THE RADIUM GIRLS. Moore researched her book by starting with the story of Mollie Maggia, a former worker at a dial-painting factory. And there she was. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. In September 1922, Mollie Maggia died. After the arrival of Berrys team, preparations were made for raising the coffin. Luckily, considering that radium was incredibly expensive at the time ($2.2 million a gram in todays money) most of these elixirs and quack medical insturments did not actually contain any uranium and if they did, it was only in very small amounts. It was Grace who led their fight, determined to find a lawyer even after countless attorneys turned her down, either disbelieving the womens claims, running scared from the powerful radium corporations, or being unprepared to fight a legal battle that demanded the overturn of existing legislation. Reporting on what you care about. Her friends could not understand what the problem was. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. On her death certificate, it originally listed that she died of syphilis, as radium poisoning had not yet been discovered. Yet the Illinois firm, Radium Dial, took a leaf out of USRCs book and denied responsibility. In fact, the male workers at the watch factory were protected with lead aprons and metal tongs for handling the radium, while the women had no protection at all. In 1898, Marie Curie and her husband Pierre discovered the element radium and earned two Nobel Prizes. Mollies death had been attributed to syphilis, which the company gleefully cited after the accusations and lawsuits started rolling in. Long-term radiation sickness symptoms soon became present among many of the women who worked with radium paint. The Real Moon Hoax That You Havent Heard Of, Oh The Hermannity! Among the first was Amelia ("Mollie") Maggia, who painted watches for the Radium Luminous Materials Corp. (later the United States Radium Corp.) in Orange, New Jersey. From Murder Monday to Fossil Friday, Heres This Weeks Happenings At HMNS, Mammoth Gardens Of Death: This Weeks Happenings At HMNS, Gardening, Poison and Murder (Not Necessarily In that Order): Things To Do This Week At HMNS. To accelerate his recovery, he began to use RadiThor. That tooth was treated, but then other teeth decayed rapidly. After Marie Curie and her husband discovered radium in 1898, it had been heralded as the new cure-all and was added to toothpaste, water, food, and cosmeticswith little regulation; sometimes it was enough just to say your product contained radium, which was costly to obtain. The questionable honor of being the first of the radium girls to die went to Mollie Maggia. Until that point, the women found their concerns were sidelined and belittled, their symptoms misdiagnosedincluding for the STD syphilis, with all the social stigma involved in thatand the facts swept under the carpet and covered up. YouTubeNine of the 14 plaintiffs seeking compensation from Radium Dial Company for asserted permanent injury suffered as a result of poisoning contracted through work painting radium on watches dials. But that wasnt true. But the words on her death certificate reflected Grace's determination to uncover the truth. You may not upload any more photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 20 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 30 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 15 photos to this memorial. What are their names?, As I spell out the names of three sisters, the woman looks up from her desk, squints her eyes, and says, Now, why do those names sound so familiar?, Theyre Radium Girls, I say. They looked like rows of shining dial- painters, walking home from work. Side by side, in support of the World War I effort, the two young women painted glow-in-the-dark numbers on watch dials, touching the paintbrush tip to their lips to keep a precise point. Expert in Criminology and pioneer of cutting-edge geographic profiling techniques, Dr. Kim Rossmo will use [], Behind The Scenes Tour Of Out Hall Of Paleontology: The Reign of Mammals: Giants of the Pleistocene Because the Morian Hall of Paleontology is too large to tour in one evening, we are debuting a new series that will cover the hall section by section. Eventually, Maggia's jawbone broke in her doctor's hands, and she died on Sept. 12, 1922, five years after she first began working at the company. Common issues included bone cancer, anemia, lesions, and sores. Author: Arma95. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Amelia Maggia (99916653)? Amelia Maggia, it read. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. In Ottawa, Illinois, a dial painter by the name of Catherine Wolfe read the coverage with horror. At 4:50 p.m., her autopsy would begin. But you wont often read their names in the history books, for today the individual radium girls have largely been forgotten. The radium ate away at their bones, gave them giant tumors, and actually made them glow in the dark. Video: Introduction to RV Types Class A, How to make the outdoors great for everyone, 7 of the best vehicles for rooftop tent camping. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. The reason the radium paint caused so much damage is because radium is chemically similar to calcium. The death certificate of Mollie Maggia, the girl who had her lower jaw removed, lists the cause of her death as syphilis. Try again later. But in 1934, Marie died from radiation exposure. But just as the radium fad faded, other chemicals have entered into our daily lives without the proper long-term research studies to determine their potential to cause harm. The grave workers heaved on the ropes and chains. Despite the radium industrys attempts to discredit Martlands pioneering work, it hadnt reckoned with the courage and tenacity of the radium girls themselves. Children of Italian immigrants, Albina, Mollie, Quinta and Irma all worked in the radium-dial factory. Historically, womens pain and other medical issues havent been taken as seriously as menstheyre often labeled as hysterical or misdiagnosed and inadequately treated. Try again later. You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. Failed to delete flower. Sorry! jaw aches. Her vertebrae glowed in vertical white lights, like a regiment of matches slowly burning into black. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. To use this feature, use a newer browser. Four of the seven sisters worked at the U.S. Radium Corporation factory, located at the intersection of High and Alden Streets in Orange, New Jersey. Something for everyone interested in hair, makeup, style, and body positivity. It wasn't until 1938 that the owners of the factories were foundresponsible for the deaths of the young women. Please try signing in with another option or create a new account with Roadpass. By this point in exposure, the victim is almost certainly dying. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. There is a problem with your email/password. | The placebo effect worked its magic on Byers. ", Mrs. Donohue in a "healthier" state in the first image; and in the second, close to death in court and having collapsed moments before. "A foot taller than Albina" her older sister, who also worked at the dial-painting factory in Newark Mollie "was a sociable 19-year-old with a broad face and bouffant brown hair, often seen laughing with her colleagues." Although her death certificate erroneously stated that she died of syphilis, she. Inspired by news of the medical benefits of this amazing element, inventors in Europe and the U.S. began to market radium products that supposedly gave people more energy while improving their health and curing a variety of illnesses to boot. The case of the Radium girls brought national attention to the dangers of ingesting radioactive materials and gradually radium disappeared from household medicine cabinets around the world. Its a shocking fact that even though dozens of young women had died from radium poisoning, it took a man to die before an autopsy was conducted to find out if radium might be killing the firms employees, says Kate Moore. Mollie was a dial painter for the United States Radium Corporation, a company primarily staffed by women during the world war and specialized and producing glow-in-the-dark watches for the military. We have set your language to By signing up, I accept that I'll receive emails from Roadtrippers, and my data will be processed in accordance with Roadtrippers Privacy Policy. As if by clockwork, one by one, Mollies former colleagues soon followed her to the grave. Search, watch, and cook every single Tasty recipe and video ever - all in one place! Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. So, yes, I do think that their gender played a role in the shocking delay in recognizing this occupational poisoningthe facts completely support that., I do think that their gender played a role in the shocking delay in recognizing this occupational poisoning.. Amelia "Mollie" Maggia was just in her early 20s, and never before had dental problems. Please reset your password. Radium jaw is basically damage around the mouth due to exposure to the radium paint. Show all. Publicly, he denounced the women as trying to "palm off" their illnesses on the firm and decried their attempts to get some financial help for their mounting medical bills. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. She likes things that are bigger or smaller than they should be: novelty architecture, miniature worlds, and anything made from fiberglass or neon. While a dental evaluation revealed a decaying jaw, two doctors told her that she was in fine health. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. The full headline above the third image reads " 'LIVING DEATH' VICTIM WINS.". Mollie's situation had worsened by May 1922. But that belief was founded upon research conducted by the very same radium firms who had built their lucrative industry around it. In 1927, Byers tripped and injured his arm. RadiThor, an energy drink made from radium dissolved in water, killed the wealthy American socialite, Eben Byers. Behind The Scenes Tour Of Our Cockrell Butterfly Center Plus Greenhouses Go behind the scenes with Museum entomologists and horticulturists who care for the plants and animals in the three-story [], Behind The Scenes Tour Of Our Smith Gem Vault The dazzling facts about the gemstones and the jewelry will be shared by Museum geologists and lapidary artists, including Jill Moffit who worked on one of the stones. When Amelia Maggia's body was exhumed, her tissues and bones revealed evidence of radioactivity. By May, the dentist concluded that surgery was needed to remove excessive growth in Mollie's jaw. The Unbelievable True Story Of Americas Radium Girls. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Chemicals commonly used in nail salons, for exampleabsorbed daily by primarily female employeesare known carcinogens and can cause birth complications, breathing problems, and skin irritation. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. At that point, she had lost most of her teeth and the mysterious infection had spread: Her entire lower jaw, the roof of her mouth, and even some of the bones of her ears were said to be "one large abscess." It led to life-saving regulations and, ultimately, to the establishment of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which now operates nationally in the United States to protect workers. She dreams of visiting every state in the U.S. and will always stop for a Muffler Man. At the time, radium was considered a miracle medicine, believed to extend life. Later studies showed that the radium had actually bored holes in the womens bones while they were alivea horrifying and agonizing reality, says Kate Moore, author of The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of Americas Shining Women. A few weeks later, she was back to have the tooth next to that one pulled. A horrific condition know as radium jaw occurred in many of the workers. Self care and ideas to help you live a healthier, happier life. An employee of the United States Radium Corporation (USRC), she had died . Dr. Martland's work had attracted attention, and in the 1930s, several research institutes approached him for advice in safely handling even more dicey elements such . Mollie Maggia, in January of 1922, got a toothache. Join exhibit curator and fellow true-crime enthusiast Nicole Temple for a lecture regarding the darker side of Death By Natural Causes. The U.S. Radium Corporation denied being at fault, claiming its employees were just trying to get money from the company. Other major radium watch companies were in business in Waterbury, Connecticut and Ottawa, Illinois. One year after Mollie's death, Grace, by then a bank teller, began experiencing back and foot pain. It was radium. Despite many visits to dentists and doctors, Mollie's disease progressed to include extreme fatigue and debilitating joint pain. You can opt out at any time via the unsubscribe link in each email. At 5 p.m. that day, her mouth was flooded with blood as she hemorrhaged so fast that her nurse could not staunch it. It was four days after the US had joined World War I; with two soldier brothers, Grace wanted to do all she could to help the war effort. how did it begin. Several trips to the dentist followed, in which many of her teeth came out, leaving wounds that refused to heal. A system error has occurred. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. The dentist pulled her tooth, but the other began to ache. As early as 1901, it had been evident that radium could harm humans dramatically when applied externally; Pierre Curie once remarked that he would not want to be in room with a kilo of pure radium because he believed it would burn all the skin off his body, destroy his eyesight, and "probably kill [him]." We couldn't find an existing Roadtrippers account using that service. Her jaw, along with most of her body, was in excruciating pain. This memorial has been copied to your clipboard. At that time, radium poisoning was not a compensable disease it hadnt even been discovered until the girls got sick and the women were also stymied by the statute of limitations, which ruled that victims of occupational poisoning had to bring their legal cases within two years. Class will meet in Glassell Hall. Yet when presented with these women in dire pain, aspirin was initially deemed an appropriate analgesic.. Amelia Mollie Maggia was born on December 21, 1897, smack dab in the middle of the Maggia sisters: Louise, Clara, and Albina were older; Quinta, Irma, and Josephine were younger. She went to the dentist, who told her the molar needed to come out. But its not all doom and gloom for those of us who identify as the fairer sex. Radium was successfully used to treat cancer and x-radiography helped doctors treat injured soldiers during World War I. It is hard to say exactly how many women died from exposure to the luminescent paint, and even harder to say how many deaths were caused by the numerous cure-alls using the radioactive element. And there was an altruistic motive to their battle after all, dial painters were still being employed all across the United States. This tour will include a demonstration of gemstone cutting. memorial page for Amelia Malia "Mollie" Maggia (21 Dec 1896-12 Sep 1922), Find a Grave Memorial ID 99916653, citing Rosedale Cemetery . Weve updated the security on the site. Mollies body could provide perfect corroborating evidence for the dial painters fight in court. "Naturally you dont want to put anything in your mouth that is going to hurt you. Three years after Grace's healthissues began, a doctor suggested that her jaw problems may have had something to do with her former dial painting job at U.S. Radium Corp. (USRC). The Story of Houstons Most Beautiful Green Space, A Few Member Benefits Most HMNS Members Dont Know About, What The Loss Of The Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiros Collections Means To The World. Make sure that the file is a photo. [The Radium Girls] experiences are a reminder that we need to listen to whistleblowers; and they themselves can inspire us to fight against injustice and attempts to silence truth, no matter what it takes, says Moore. 0 cemeteries found in Montclair, Essex County, New Jersey, USA. She suffered not only from the pain, but also from the unique smell of the rotting teeth and gums. A century later, the radium in their bones still glimmers underground. By 1924, when dozens of radium girls were sick or dead, an independent study one that USRC didnt pay for established that radioactive paint is indeed hazardous when ingested. In 1923, 24-year-old Amelia "Mollie" Maggia was the first USRC worker to die of radium poisoning. And there she was. As you enter the cemetery take the first right and drive past the new office building and parking. When they were removed, ruthlessly painful, oozing ulcers broke through her gums. They shine through history with all that they achieved in their too-short lives. By 1920, 300 girls were working on USRC's floor - at the peak of operations. Family members linked to this person will appear here. In 1927, 5 women filed a case against the American Radium Corporation. Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins / Deadly Glow. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Fans are anxious for OA and Maggie to start a relationship, but Zaki feels it is . A visit to the graves of Mollie Maggia and her sisters is an important reminder of how far we still have to go. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again. Join PopSci+ to read sciences greatest stories. The family hadnt protested when Berry had put the idea to them. | Photo: Wikimedia Commons, By creating an account, you agree with our. Her molar was removed when she went to the dentist. But after the girls who literally glowed in the dark after their shifts began to experience gruesome side effects, they began a race-against-time fight for justice that would forever change US labor laws. The Radium Girls ingested radioactive radium through the special paint formula they used to paint the dials on clocks, watches, aircraft instruments and other applications. Thanks for your help! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. Failed to delete memorial. She had no idea that her new job would change her life and workers rights forever. The dial painters were grateful for their well-paying jobs and took pride in working with an exciting new substance. The dial still glows, showing how powerful radium is. In 1922, a worker named Mollie Maggia fell very ill. The body mistakes the radioactive metal for calcium an incorporates into incorporates it into the bone. Despite many visits to dentists and doctors, Mollie's disease progressed to include extreme fatigue and debilitating joint pain. Include gps location with grave photos where possible. Grace, Amelia, and about 70 other women in Essex County, N.J., were known as the Radium Girls because of the paint that they so diligently placed between their lips. The most famous case is that of the radium girls, women hired by companies to paint the dials of watches with luminous paint made from radium. It was enlisted in the battle against cancer and treatment of fevers, constipation, and gout. New Jersey, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1660-1931, New Jersey, U.S., Death Index, 1848-1878, 1901-2017, Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. These days we all know that radium is not something you should be ingesting, but a hundred years ago that wasnt the case at all. Mabel Williams of Olympia, Washington, may now be the last surviving radium girl. But the spirit of adventure lives in me, and has always inspired me to go out and seek new experiences. It was literally boring holes inside them, "Mr. Savoy said that it wasnt dangerous, that we didnt need to be afraid.". Aydin and Gorga are set to face off with Pais in next week's episode. "There were meetings at [our] plant that bordered on riots," she remembered. There was a plethora of radium products on the market, many of them specifically intended to be ingested. She died at the age of 24. In the exact middle of this section where the road bends slightly into the section on the second row is the final resting place of Radium Girl Amelia Mollie Maggia. Its actions to hush up the scandal went as far as interfering in the girls autopsies when the Illinois workers began to die: Company officials actually stole their radium-riddled bones in their callous cover-up. Then they worked to uncover the coffin, heaving sodden earth out of the hole until they unveiled a nondescript wooden box, which held Amelia Mollie Maggiathe girl, so people said, who had died of syphilis. Along with her parents and sisters, Mollie was also mourned by a young woman named Grace Fryer. Molly was the first of hundreds of women to suffer from long-term medical effects of radium exposure and she ultimately died as a result of it. Workers employed in painting luminous watch dials began to suffer from a menagerie of ailments including bone cancer, severe arthritis, anemia, bone decay and muscle decay. A girl named Mollie Maggia was amongst the first to experience serious health problems from radium poisoning. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. But Grace was the daughter of a union delegate, and she was determined to hold a clearly guilty firm to account. Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. In early 1922, she visited the dentist over a sore tooth. The disease slowly ate its way through her jugular vein. It was only when the first male employee of the radium firm died that experts finally took up the charge. Are they popular here?. Radium was the ingredient in the paint that made watch dials glow. Andrea Hickey /. None of this would fly after 1925 when Harrison Martland studied the issue for himself. Grace Fryer and Catherine Donohue to name just two are women we need to honor and salute as fearless champions. None of the Radium girls lived passed the mid-1930s. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Though close to death when her case went to court in 1938, Catherine ignored her doctors advice and instead gave evidence from her deathbed. USRC had two additional locations, in Waterbury, Conn., and Ottawa, Ill., where young women suffered the effects from radium. By now, however, time was running out: The women had been given just four months to live, and the company seemed intent on dragging out the legal proceedings. Its just $1 per month , By On September 12, 1922, the strange infection that had plagued Mollie Maggia for less than a year spread to the tissues of her throat. The lick and dab painting technique engrained in her had caused her teeth to fall out, one by one. The tumors grew into her jugular vein, flowing her throat with blood and choking her to death. Women working in the United States Radium Corporation factory. There was a problem getting your location. Many of them were teenagers, with small hands perfect for the artistic work, and they spread the message of their new jobs appeal through their friend and family networks; often, whole sets of siblings worked alongside each other in the studio.