The Radium Girls
Morbid
08/15/24
•82m
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When Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium in 1898, the chemical element was quickly adopted by manufacturers for its luminescent properties that would go on to be used in, among other things, the painting of clock faces, watches, and instrument panels, allowing them to be seen in the dark. At the time, the introduction of radioluminescent materials into manufacturing was hailed as a scientific solution to an age-old frustration, but it didn’t take long before that solution was shown to have terrible consequences.
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.
Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, hundreds of young women working in at least three radium dial factories in the United States suffered deadly radiation poisoning as a result of working so closely with radium, all without any safety protocols and completely unaware of the dangers. After dozens of deaths, a group of factory workers successfully sued their employers for damages, exposing the widespread disregard for worker safety. While the suits were generally a major victory for the American labor movement, it was ultimately hard-won and little comfort to those who would die within a few years.
Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research!
References
Camden Courier-Post. 1928. "Woman radium victim offers living body to aid in search for cure." Courier-Post, May 29: 1.
eGov Newswire. 2021. "Menedez leads colleagues in introducing senate resolution to honor the lives and legacy of the 'Radium Girls'." eGov Newswire, June 26.
Evening Courier. 1927. "Radium poison victims want damage suit limits raised." Evening Courier, July 19: 2.
Galant, Debbie. 1996. "Living with a radium nightmare." New York Times, September 29: NJ1.
Lang, Daniel. 1959. "A most valuable accident." New Yorker, April 24: 49.
McAndrew, Tara McClellan. 2018. The Radium Girls: An Illinois Tragedy. January 25. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://www.nprillinois.org/equity-justice/2018-01-25/the-radium-girls-an-illinois-tragedy.
Moore, Kate. 2017. The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women. New York, NY: Sourcebooks.
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. n.d. Radium Girls: The Story of US Radium’s Superfund Site. Environmental Preservation Snapshot, Orange, NJ: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
New York Times. 1928. "Finds no bar to suit by radium victims." New York Times, May 23: 11.
Prisco, Jacopo. 2017. "Radium Girls: The dark times of luminous watches." CNN, December 19.
United Press. 1928. "Woman, dying by degrees, tells of symptoms of radium posioning." Courier-News, May 16: 6.
—. 1928. "3 more are victims of radiun poisoning." Evening Courier, May 22: 1.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Previous Episode
The Murder of Albert Snyder
August 12, 2024
•74m
On the morning of March 20, 1927, nine-year-old Lorraine Snyder was awakened by the sound of gentle knocking at her bedroom door and when she opened it, she found her mother bound and gagged on the floor. According to the girl’s mother, Ruth Snyder, someone had broken into the house in the middle of the night, knocked her unconscious and tied her up, then murdered her husband, Albert. Ruth claimed the motive was robbery, but investigators were immediately suspicious of her. Not only was there no sign of forced entry, but Albert’s murder had been particularly brutal and appeared personal. A day later, when police found Ruth’s supposedly stolen items hidden in the house, her story started to fall apart.
The murder of Albert Snyder had everything depression-era Americans were looking for in a media distraction—sex, extramarital affairs, fraud, and murder. From the moment Ruth and her boyfriend, Judd Gray, were arrested for the murder of her husband, they were thrust into the spotlight and would remain fixtures on the front pages of the papers across New York up to and including the final moments of their lives.
Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research!
References
Beckley, Zoe. 1927. "Ruth Snyder to escape chair, is Zoe Beckley's forecast." Times Union, April 19: 1.
Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1927. "Suspect is held after cops grill dead man's wife." Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 21: 1.
Brooklyn Times Union. 1927. "Hid lover in her home, then went to party." Brooklyn Times Union, March 21: 25.
—. 1928. "Ruth and Judd die, she first, in sobs; each is forgiving." Brooklyn Times Union, Janaury 13: 1.
MacKellar, Landis. 2006. The Double Indemnity Murder: Ruth Snyder, Judd Gray, and New York's Crime of the Century. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
New York Times. 1927. "Cross-examination of Mrs. Ruth Snyder on her last day on the stand." New York Times, May 4: 16.
—. 1927. "Girl finds mother bound." New York Times, March 21: 1.
—. 1927. "Gray's first story was full of denial." New York Times, March 22: 3.
—. 1927. "Judge warned jury to avoid sympathy." New York Times, May 10: 1.
—. 1927. "Mrs. Snyder and Gray found guilty in the first degree in swift verdict; both to get death sentence Monday." New York Times, May 10: 1.
—. 1927. "Not a cruel killer, Gray writes in cell." New York Times, April 8: 25.
—. 1927. "Says Gray was hypnotized." New York Times, March 26: 9.
—. 1927. "Slayers indicted; Snyder case trial sought for April 4." New York Times, March 24: 1.
—. 1927. "Slayers of Snyder face speedy trial; racant confession." New York Times, March 23: 1.
—. 1927. "Slayers of Snyder hear doom unmoved; put hope in appeals." New York Times, May 14: 1.
—. 1927. "Snyder jury hears Gray's confession accusing woman." New York Times, April 28: 1.
—. 1927. "Snydwer was tricked into big insurance, state witness says." New York Times, April 26: 1.
—. 1927. "Widow on stand swears Gray alone killed Snyder as she tried to save him." New York Times, April 30: 1.
—. 1927. "Wife betrays paramour as murderer of Snyder, and he then confesses." New York Times, March 22: 1.
Sutherland, Sidney. 1928. "Ruth and Judd die in chair, asking for forgiveness for sin." Daily News, January 13: 1.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Next Episode
Nellie May Madison: California’s First Woman on Death Row
August 19, 2024
•96m
On the afternoon of March 25, 1934, Belle Bradley found one of her tenants, forty-five-year-old Eric Madison, dead on the floor of the apartment he rented with his wife, Nellie. Madison had been shot in the back four times with a .32 caliber revolver and there was no sign of Nellie Madison, nor was there any evidence of a break-in or a robbery. In the days that followed, investigators quickly determined that Nellie had shot her husband and they tracked her to a remote cabin in northern California, where she was arrested and taken back to Los Angeles and charged with the murder.
To the Los Angeles police and press, Nellie Madison was suspicious from the very start; not for any obvious reason or evidence against her, but because she openly defied the categories and characteristics used to define a wife and woman at the time. Although she was only thirty-three years old, she had been married five times and yet had no children. She also had a strong skillset from having worked many jobs, and having been raised on a farm in Montana, she was a skilled survivalist who had never needed the help of a man. Going into the murder trial, it was these facts, more than any physical evidence or witness testimony, that would count against her.
After a two-week trial, Nellie Madison was found guilty for the murder of her husband and sentenced to death, making her the first woman to ever sit on death row in the state’s history. However, Nellie’s death sentence was hardly the end of her case; in fact, it was the turning point in the story that would finally bring the truth about Eric’s death into the light.
Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research!
References
Cairns, Kathleen. 2005. "Saved From the Gallows." California Supreme Court Historical Society 5-14.
—. 2007. The Enigma Woman: The Death Sentence of Nellie May Madison. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
2015. A Crime to Remember. Television. Directed by Christine Connor. Accessed July 23, 2024.
Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 1934. "Calls woman Lady Macbeth." Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, June 20: 1.
—. 1934. "Hint Madison is still alive." Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, June 13: 1.
—. 1934. "Mrs. Madison facinc noose; plans appeal." Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, June 23: 1.
—. 1934. "Self defense may be argued." Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, June 6: 1.
—. 1934. "Widow unmoved by death story." Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, April 12: 7.
Los Angeles Times. 1934. "Auditor found slain; wife hunted in inquiry." Los Angeles Times, March 26: 15.
—. 1934. "Death clew hunt pushed." Los Angeles Times, April 1: 17.
—. 1934. "Death plea hits widow." Los Angeles Times, June 20: 17.
—. 1934. "Deatn case widow mum." Los Angeles Times, Marchh 27: 19.
—. 1934. "Doubt cast on identity." Los Angeles Times, June 14: 17.
—. 1934. "Madison may be exhumed." Los Angeles Times, June 16: 13.
—. 1934. "Second pistol bought by Mrs. Madison hunted in mysrtery murder case." Los Angeles Times, March 28: 5.
—. 1934. "Slaying of mate denied." Los Angeles Times, June 15: 36.
—. 1934. "Widow veils death tale." Los Angeles Times, March 28: 17.
Rasmussen, Cecilia. 2007. "Unwitting pioneer of the battered-woman defense." Los Angeles Times, February 4.
The People of California v. Nellie May Madison. 1935. 3826 (Supreme Court of the State of California, May 27).
Underwood, Agness. 1934. "Widow weeps when held in murder quiz." Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, March 29: 1.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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