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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to congratulate the City of Ottawa
4on the dedication of the Ottawa Radium Girls Memorial; and
 
5    WHEREAS, A statue of a radium worker will be dedicated on
6September 2, 2011 at the northwest corner of Clinton and
7Jefferson streets, the former home of Luminous Processes; the
8life-size statue is to serve as a memorial to the women who
9worked at the Radium Dial and Luminous Processes factories in
10Ottawa and consequently died from radium poisoning; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The bronze statue is of a woman holding flowers to
12symbolize hope and life in one hand and paintbrushes in the
13other; the statue was designed by Bill Piller, a Mendota
14sculptor; his daughter, Madeline, became fascinated with the
15story while researching a class project and began raising
16pledges to create the monument; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The Radium Girls were young women who worked at
18the Radium Dial and Luminous Processes factories in Ottawa,
19starting in 1922; young women were excited to work for Radium
20Dial: the workplace was nice, the work was fun, and the pay was
21great; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The women were paid by the piece to apply paint
2neatly and evenly to the numbers on clock faces; to ensure
3thin, even, accurate strokes, the dial painters were instructed
4to "point" the brush frequently by licking its end, not being
5aware that the radium used to make the paint glow would soon be
6discovered to be a very dangerous radioactive substance; they
7also had no idea that by lip pointing their brushes they were
8ingesting enough of it to cause painful, crippling cancers and
9death; and
 
10    WHEREAS, In 1925 Radium Dial became aware of the
11occupational danger of radium radiation exposure; Radium Dial
12workers were examined by the company, and although many women
13already showed signs of radium poisoning, they were never told;
14and
 
15    WHEREAS, In 1934, 7 women, who would become known as "The
16Society of the Living Dead," began a series of legal battles to
17win financial compensation for their radium poisoning; each one
18received small financial settlements; therefore, be it
 
19    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
20NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
21we congratulate the City of Ottawa on the dedication of the
22Ottawa Radium Girls Memorial and honor the brave women who
23fought to change working conditions in the State of Illinois;

 

 

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1and be it further
 
2    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
3presented to the City of Ottawa as a symbol of our respect and
4esteem.