Katherine Schaub
was one of hundreds of young women who
worked at the US Radium Corporation in Orange, New Jersey, in the early 20th century, painting numerals on
wristwatch and instrument dials with luminous paint. Many of the women became ill, some
fatally. Schaub died in 1933 at age 31.
1. 1917—1921
I was 15 when the company
hired me. I
loved my job!
It was tricky at first,
shaping the tiny numerals
just right; but I soon caught on.
I’d moisten my brush with my lips
to give it a fine point,
as the foreman taught us.
And we had such fun!
When we turned off the lights,
we saw radium glowing
everywhere—on our clothes
and hair and skin.
Some girls
even painted their teeth
to surprise their boyfriends.
Plus—as the company told us—
we were helping the war effort.
I was so proud.
They never
told us
what radium
does
inside the
body,
nor that its
half-life
is 1600 years.
