Author

Lily Mannino

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Drama

Before You See “Radium Girls” — What Happened In Orange, New Jersey’s Radium Dial Factories?

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Lick. Dip. Paint. Lick. Dip. Paint. The workers at the United States Radium Corporation’s factory in Orange, New Jersey, spent every day of their employment repeating the same tedious process with remarkable precision. Hunched over the table, the girls would dip fine paint brushes into glowing paint, and paint the numbers and hands on small watch faces. When the bristles started to fan out, the workers used their wet lips to bring the brush back to a fine point before dipping them back into the “beautiful radium”, as Marie Skłodowska-Curie called the ethereal element 88, which she’d discovered in 1898.  This luminous paint, created by Sabin von Sochocky, made the watches easy to read in the dark, and made his US Radium Corporation very rich. The factory workers were highly paid and greatly admired

But radium is toxic. And eventually the extended internal exposure to small amounts of the paint resulted in many of the factory workers becoming sick. Among other painful, deadly symptoms, the radium caused extreme issues in the jaws and mouths of the workers, now known as the Radium Girls. Many of the workers individually went to medical professionals, and were each told the same thing: radium is known to be safe, no toxic phosphorus (what the doctors had suspected could be causing their issues) has been found in the paint, and they could offer no adequate diagnosis or cure.

And so a cycle ensued. More girls were becoming ill, mysteriously with many of the same symptoms as their former coworkers, so they visited doctors. Their doctors could not pinpoint the reason for their jaw conditions. On the occasions when their time at the factory was suggested as the reason for their illness, the US Radium Corporation promised that its radium paint was one hundred percent safe. Some workers sued, but faced many legal obstacles (in addition to the practical difficulty of suing a major corporation when taking care of an extremely ill family member). The first main obstacle? The workers had not been diagnosed with one of the few diseases explicitly listed as an industrial disease for which workers could sue. The other obstacle? There was a statute of limitations on even these diseases. Workers who had worked at the factory many years ago simply could not sue the US Radium Corporation. Too much time had passed since their alleged exposure.

Grace Fryer had been in severe pain for years due to her work at the factory. She refused to accept her poisoning when her former employer got rich from her suffering. On May 3rd, 1927, she entered the law firm of Raymond H. Berry.

Find out if Fryer’s story will end in justice or defeat on November 15th and 16th when you see Radium Girls. Buy tickets online.

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Drama

Harrison Fischer, Co-Treasurer of Ridge Drama Club, Tells Devil’s Quill About His Lead Role in Fall Play “Radium Girls”

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Why don’t you tell Devil’s Quill a little bit about Radium Girls? Who is your character and what is he like?

Radium Girls is a powerful true story about female dial painters in the early 1900s. They worked for the U.S. Radium Corporation, which was based in Orange County, New Jersey, and ingested radium, which was in the paint they were applying to the dials, when they put the brushes to their lips to get it to a fine point. The play takes place over the course of multiple years, so my character, Arthur Roeder, goes from being the plant manager to the company president. Arthur was a man whose morals conflicted with his goals. He truly felt guilty for hiding the negative effects of radium from the girls, as well as his wife and child, but at the same time, his main concern was preserving his reputation, that of the companies, and the profit of his shareholders. He is not an entirely bad person, but he was responsible for the deaths of many of those girls. 

How many roles have you played in Ridge productions so far? What makes this one different?

I have played three other roles in Ridge productions thus far, in Curious Incident, Newsies, and Something Rotten. This role is far different because, not only is this my first major lead role, but it is also the first time I’ve been able to explore a character with as much depth as Arthur Roeder. I’ve been able to research his actual life, and also try to interpret the lines in the play in my own way. 

Do you prefer more historical shows like Radium Girls and Newsies or fiction stories?

I prefer more historical shows, mainly because history is a really large interest of mine, but also because it is easier to research my characters when they actually existed. It gives me a firmer basis on which to build my character, as opposed to something like Something Rotten, where I had to come up with my character all myself. 

What has been your favorite thing about drama club this year? Does this show present any unique challenges?

My favorite thing about drama club this year is the fact that I am really enjoying it with all of my friends. In years past, my friend group within drama club was limited, but I feel now as an upperclassman lead and officer, I am able to branch out more. I enjoy being on stage with my friends. This show is challenging in the fact that it is somewhat disturbing, which is also exasperated by the fact that it was a true story. Arthur Roeder is an emotionally taxing character to play, but luckily Mr. Lynch and the other faculty have helped us figure out how to shed that emotional taxation when we leave rehearsal.

Congratulations on becoming an officer this year! How has that new role been?

Thank you! Being an officer has been a great experience so far. I’ve been able to make lots of new friends, get closer with my fellow officers and Mr. Lynch, which has been great, but I also have the unique opportunity of trying to create change. As I said in my officer interviews, my primary goal is to make sure that everybody in drama club can be friends with everybody else if they choose to be, so they don’t feel limited in the people they can talk to as I did my first two years.

I know we’re all very excited to see the drama club perform. When can we see the show and how do we get tickets?

I’m glad! Our shows are on Friday, November 15th, and Saturday, November 16th, both of which will start promptly at 7:00 PM. Also, on Thursday the 14th, we have an open dress rehearsal for seniors, faculty, and their families, which starts at 6:30 PM. This is technically not a show, but we treat it the same as our opening and closing nights. You can purchase tickets on the Ridge PAC website, where they are $12 for adults or $10 for seniors and students.  

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