IMSS Book Club: Reading Between the Spines

Are you interested in diving deeper into the themes explored through our collections and exhibitions? Do you love reading? Then you’re in luck, IMSS has its very own book club!

Our next meeting will be Wednesday March 4th, 2020. The Museum will be open from 5:30-7:30, but you can drop-in anytime during those hours. At each meeting there will be a round table style book discussion, refreshments and an opportunity to either explore objects from our collections or get hands-on with interactive activities that are thematically relevant to the text. This program is free and open to the public.

Doors will open at 5:30 and the book discussion will begin around 6pm. This time we’re reading The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore.

About the Book:
The Curies’ newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of the First World War.

Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these “shining girls” are the luckiest alive ― until they begin to fall mysteriously ill.

But the factories that once offered golden opportunities are now ignoring all claims of the gruesome side effects, and the women’s cries of corruption. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America’s early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers’ rights that will echo for centuries to come.

Written with a sparkling voice and breakneck pace, The Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the “wonder” substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. Their courage and tenacity led to life-changing regulations, research into nuclear bombing, and ultimately saved hundreds of thousands of lives…

About the Author:

Kate Moore is a New York Times bestselling author who writes across many genres, including biography, memoir, and history. She was also the director of the acclaimed play about the Radium Girls called ‘These Shining Lives’.

Get the book from your favorite book store or online retailer. For this book we recommend heading to Women and Children First: https://www.womenandchildrenfirst.com/search/site/The%20Radium%20Girls

OR

Check it out from the Chicago Public Library: https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1831476126

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Tags: Chicago, IMSS Book Club: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women, International Museum of Surgical Science, Near North Side