![]() ![]() Frequently, entire sibling groups collaborated in the studio.īecause of the luminosity of radium, which was part of its allure, the dial painters quickly earned the nickname "ghost girls" because by the end of their shifts, they would glow themselves. They spread the word about the appeal of their new job through their friend and family networks because many of them were teenagers with small hands that were ideal for artistic work. This gave women financial freedom at a time when female emancipation was gaining momentum. Dial painting was "the elite job for the poor working girls" because it paid more than three times as much as the typical factory job, and those who were fortunate enough to get a job were among the top 5% of female workers in the country. ![]() She had no idea how drastically her new job would alter both her life and the rights of workers.įollowing the declaration of war, a large number of working-class women flocked to the studio where they were hired to paint watches and military dials with the novel element radium, which Marie Curie had discovered a little less than 20 years earlier. With two soldier brothers, Grace wanted to do everything she could to support the war effort four days after the US entered World War I. ![]() On April 10, 1917, an 18-year-old woman named Grace Fryer began working as a dial painter at the United States Radium Corporation (USRC) in Orange, New Jersey. ![]()
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