Which part of the story affected you the most, and why?

The Radium Girls is filled with both triumph and tragedy. Which part of the story affected you the most, and why?

The details of the debilitating pain that these women endured was shocking, but one page that is stuck in my brain is the last photo (un-numbered pages) before page 207; the photo of a young mother, Catherine Donohue with her two sad daughters. I had to put the book down for a moment because my eyes were stinging from tears.

The age of these women--I just couldn't handle their deaths at such a young age for the most part. All their hopes and dreams unfulfilled and how I hated that Reed couple in Ottawa--I hope both of them suffered --isn't that awful to feel such things and wish them for other human beings. It is tragic that she lived into her 80's

I think that Catherine's Donohue's death because her illness was so followed by the press and included the effect it had on her 2 children and husband. She was also such a strong character in fighting for their rights as workers.

The determination of these very young women to fight on in the face or incredible pain and disability was quite moving. They had quite a sense of the future they were protecting.

For some reason the part of the story which affected me the most was when the bodies of some of the girls were exhumed from Rosedale Cemetary and the remains glowed in the dark after they had been in the ground years later. For me it poinnted out how horribly long the effects of radium existed beyond these poor women's deaths. Also when I saw the pictue of the memorial that had been erected for "the girls" in Ottawa...I could see the strong, young woman holding a paint brush and a flower and it seemed to me, the brush symbolized both Death and Life that the girls were poised between in the realities of their lives.

The slow lingering deaths of all the women affected me the most. Catherine Donohue's demise was particularly well chronicled and therefore the most touching to me. I can't imagine the heartache and feeling of impending doom these women felt after they found out that they had radium poisoning and were going to die. That they held onto the hope that they would be spared this gruesome death was also poignant and heartbreaking.

It affected me that these women were so grateful to have their jobs that then turned into early death for them. So sad.

I have to say the callus attitude and actions of the corporate heads and management affected me the most. It stirred up such anger in me and to think that it still goes on today just makes me sick.

I'm not sure if it affected me the most, but I was so moved by the devotion and courage of the spouses, family members, and the close-knit group of Radium Girls — how they never left their sides and created ways to get them to the trials when they couldn't couldn't get there on their own. I was also moved by how Catherine still tried to keep her family together while fighting enormous pain and unscrupulous corporations.

The awful deaths of these once vibrant young women was devastating. When the one girl was dug up and the coffin glowed, I was horrified. It was all so senseless.

Some of the workers went from happy, giddy girls who used their wages to buy nice clothes and go dancing to very sick women. Still, they needed their jobs and continued to work even after they know the consequences. I think their youth and how they suffered terrible symptoms and illness affected me deeply.

The part of the story that affected me the most was the greed of the companies that knew what working with radium did to the girls and yet persisted to deny and falsify information. Unfortunately, we do not learn from history, for this still goes on today. The pollution of drinking water and the denial of its affects is just one such example today.

The part of the story that affected me the most was the suffering of the women. I cannot imagine their pain and have their jawbones just coming out. How their families suffered too! Watching someone you love suffer is heartbreaking, especially when they knew there was no cure.
Also, I was so frustrated by Radium Dial lying and not helping the women with their medical bills. It was all about greed.

It is hard to decide which part of this story affected me the most.....the callous owners, the lack of concern as so many girls were having the same problem, the misery that the girls were suffering, or the fact that it continued to be a practice.

The individual stories of the women involved affected me the most. The lies they were told. The losses the families went through. The young women who lost their lives just trying to make a living.

The fact of inhumane treatment of workers and callousness of big industry. This practice still continues today and will continue as long as big business funds and rules the political world!

When Catherine pulled part of her jawbone out of her mouth. I cried.

Vibrant young women at the beginning of their lives. The pain and suffering they experienced. The unfairness of their treatment

The young women who were subjected to a horrible health risk that could have been avoided. What is ironic is that someone I know recently was treated for head and neck cancer with 35 treatments of radiation. He is cured by the same product that killed and maimed the girls.

The part the doctors played in supporting the companies. Followed by the lack of morals and ethics of the company people

It was all horrible and shocking but I find it especially appalling how the women were lied to about the radium being safe. And the physicians that collaborated with the Radium companies to make the women think it was all fine.