Kate Moore wrote The Radium Girls as a tribute for not just one woman, but an entire legion of them. She teaches generations of women to boldly stand up straight, even when jaws begin to rot and lips are no longer tainted with shiny gloss but thin, sticky blood. We readers saw what the Radium Girls learned the hard way. We learned to be forthright, just as the Radium Girls learned to tell their story in a way to make the public understand their relentless pain. The first lesson was taught by Grace Fryer, one of the strongest, most brilliant Radium Girls, whose determination brought journalists to tears. “It is not a question of giving up hope,” one reporter commented about Grace’s promise. “Grace has hope- not that selfish hope that perhaps you or I might have but hope for contributing betterment to humanity” (Moore, 222).

The girls, former watch dial painters, stood little chance of winning a case against the biggest corporation in the richest industry in America, even though they had worked with toxic substances for years. As I read the book, I knew that the chance of four girls and their doctor prevailing over the United States Radium Corporation (USRC) was slim. Yet, when Grace made a stand, I felt empowered. I felt hope. The first lesson I learned was to always be hopeful, even when the future seems empty and luckless. The legal victory of the girls, who each received a $600 annuity from the USRC, is attributed mainly to the hope and confidence demonstrated by Grace when she told her story and the stories of dozens more.

I know that there are cases like this happening right now in the world, and perhaps justice may not favor all of them. Yet, I want every victim fighting for their future to have faith. To have hope. One can view hope as a clothes hanger of sorts, draped over it is a formerly drowned soul, waiting for the righteousness of society to finally peer in. The Radium Girls didn’t weep day and night in dark corners of their rooms, despite their pain—despite their doubt, even. They stood their ground, some in wheelchairs, others in crutches. And they spoke with broken jaws and fake teeth that amplified their voices more than ever. Justice is due where hope has demanded it.

The second lesson I learned is one of courage, spirit, and friendship. Moore passionately writes that the girls were “united, they triumphed. Through their friendships, through their refusal to give up and through their sheer spirit, the radium girls left us all an extraordinary legacy. They did not die in vain” (Moore, 396). The fight of the Radium Girls was not a quick one. There was no shortage of blood, death, and tears. The reasons behind it all were simply greed and ignorance — ignorance of the lives sacrificed for the company’s success. The Radium Girls’ triumph was the product of nothing other than the belief that courage, friendship, and perseverance bring light to that which was hidden in darkness: too much blood and too many bodies. The Radium Girls fought and sacrificed so that the current generation doesn’t have to. They died so that we don’t have to. They won a fight once deemed impossible for them to win. I firmly assert that although the girls clung to their very lives (greased with radium) with weak, shaking hands, they were stronger and more powerful than the USRC. They had the truth. And they had courage. “They made every second count” (Moore, 396). And every second was worth it.