Radium Girls approved
2021

Salina Art Center Salina, KS

with

Martha Tasker

Project manager, Former Schilling Air Force Base Groundwater Contamination Project

Radium Girls— Cleaning environmental contamination

Groundwater Contamination Project Manager Martha Tasker discusses the background of the former Schilling Air Force Base in Salina, Kansas; the contamination found in the soil, surface water, groundwater, and bedrock at the base, and how she worked to resolve the contamination issue.

Salina Art Center Salina, KS

Film Synopsis

When mysterious ailments strike a dial painter at American Radium, a dark truth emerges: She is not the first in the watch factory to fall ill. Her sister's legal fight against the corporation in 1928 launched workplace safety reforms and closer study of the dangers of radioactivity.

Based on true events of the 1920’s, Radium Girls stars Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Joey King and Abby Quinn as Bessie and Jo Cavallo, sisters who dream of Hollywood and Egyptian pyramids as they work painting luminous watch dials at the American Radium factory in New Jersey. When Jo loses a tooth, Bessie’s world is turned upside down as a mystery slowly unravels. She discovers a corporate cover-up and, in a radical coming-of-age story, Bessie and the Radium Girls decide to take on American Radium. Based on historical events, the national sensation following the notorious case of the Radium Girls in 1928 ultimately led to significant and lasting impact in the area of workplace health and safety and the study of radioactivity.

Radium Girls marks the feature directorial debuts of Emmy-winning and Academy-Award nominated producer Lydia Dean Pilcher and filmmaker Ginny Mohler, who co-wrote the award-winning original screenplay for Radium Girls with Brittany Shaw. The film made its world premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.

Banner image courtesy of Juno Films