True Crime Tuesday!

NEW at East Hancock Library!

“TRUE CRIME TUESDAY” 

with EH Manager, Leah Holmes

Tuesday, Jan. 14, 10-11 AM at EH Library

MUST HAVE FIVE FOR CLASS TO MAKE.

REGISTRATION REQUIRED.  Please register below, by phone at 228-255-4800, or in person at EH Library in Diamondhead 

Topic: "The Radium Girls" and the Crimes They Suffered

Photo credit, Wikimedia Commons

Overview of the Case:

    When Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium in 1898, manufacturers quickly adopted the chemical element into their processes: clock faces, watches, and instrument panels were all coated with the stuff to provide “glow in the dark” properties. But soon, factory workers discovered that this exciting new “paint” brought with it some horrible side effects.

    As a radioactive element, radium is highly toxic to humans, particularly when ingested or inhaled. While it seemed unlikely that anyone would ingest or inhale the radium used to paint a clockface, this fact posed a serious problem for the largely female factory workers whose job it was to paint the dials. These “Radium Girls,” as they would come to be known, not only spent most of their day in close proximity to the paint, but also employed a technique in which they frequently wet their paintbrushes with their mouths, consuming small amounts of radium in the process. Yep, you can imagine where this is going….

   Join us as we explore this fascinating historical case. Though the court battle would ultimately yield a major victory for the American labor movement, it was a battle hard-won and of little comfort to the “Radium Girls.” 

---With credit to Morbid podcast. 

Need 5 for class to make. Please register below, by phone (228-255-4800), or in person. 

About the Presenter:  Leah Holmes holds advanced degrees in literature and English. A retired high school teacher and USM English Instructor, she's now intrigued by—and enjoys sharing with others—strange and thought-provoking true crime stories. She managers the East Hancock Library Branch and hosts True Crime Tuesdays!, which meets from 10 -11 AM on the 2nd Tuesday of each month.