Carlson reprimanded her old boss and informed her, âI got just the job for you. After she recovered, this daughter of Italian immigrants presented her case to Elof Carlson, the pnt superintendent. Then, her boss let her go, mistakenly thinking she was skipping work. Frail and thin, Celeste found factory life hard on her body and quickly got sick. Ingraham Company, a family-owned manufacturer of timepieces in Bristol, Connecticut, since 1831. left high school in favor of employment at the E. NO TE D AN DO E UM NT Philip Samponaro In 1927, fifteen-year-old Celeste P. Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas Duke University Press Despite Celesteâs continued protests, Carlson prevailed upon her to try the job for two weeks, a proposal to which she reluctantly agreed.1 Underlying Celesteâs attitude was her knowledge that radium was dangerous. âAnd when I saw where he took me,â she recalled, âI stopped dead.â âIâm not going in this room,â the girl decred to the superintendent, many years her senior. I donât know if youâve ever heard of radium.â Celeste dutifully followed Carlson as he led her to a department upstairs in the factory.

Ingraham Company, 1923-1935 Painting a Nightmare: Women and Radium Work at the E. Painting a Nightmare: Women and Radium Work at the E.

Women painting radium watches