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Self-luminous paint, which contains radium, was widely used on the faces and hands of watches. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 1.0 Generic license.

Illinois memorial pays tribute to ill-fated ‘Radium Girls’

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf

Self-luminous paint, which contains radium, was widely used on the faces and hands of watches. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 1.0 Generic license.
Self-luminous paint, which contains radium, was widely used on the faces and hands of watches. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 1.0 Generic license.
OTTAWA, Ill. (AP) – A northern Illinois city has paid tribute to former factory employees who worked under dangerous conditions.

The Radium Girls memorial honors the women who worked at watch-painting plants for Radium Dial Co. and Luminous Processes Inc in the 1920s and ’30s. The women painted glow-in-the-dark watch dials using radium-laced paint. Many died of radium exposure from using their lips to hone their paintbrushes.

The (Ottawa) Daily Times reports the life-size bronze statue was unveiled Friday. It was placed near the former Luminous Processes Inc. factory plant.

Former employees also attended the unveiling. Gov. Pat Quinn proclaimed Friday Radium Girls Day in Illinois.

The memorial grew out of a class project by then-eight-grader Madeline Piller, who is now a freshman at the University of Illinois College of Engineering.

Information from: The Daily Times, http://www.ottawadailytimes.com

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-09-04-11 1241GMT