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

In Ottawa in 1927, 24-year-old Ella Cruse, who has worked at the Radium Dial factory since she was 20, has recently developed a slight ache in her jaw and body. One day, the pain becomes too intense, and she leaves early from the factory. In a matter of days, a painful pimple that had developed on her cheek has grown into a boil, then an enormous growth as she becomes confined to her bed. She dies shortly afterwards, with a cause of death of “Streptococcic poisoning.”

The news of Flinn’s fraud is shocking to all, but he remains calm, maintaining that he is an expert in industrial hygiene. Berry reports him to the authorities for practicing medicine without a license. Meanwhile, Hamilton connects Berry with Walter Lippman, an extremely influential reporter at the powerful newspaper The World.

The dial-painters’ cases are combined to avoid duplicate testimonials, and are assigned to the Court of Chancery, which will determine whether Berry’s interpretation of the statute of limitations is acceptable. The trial date is set for January 12, 1928. If Berry and the girls are successful, the case will move to a second trial which will rule on whether the company is to blame.