Catherine Donohue is proud and excited to be a working woman in 1922. She and coworkers Frances, Charlotte and Pearl work for the Radium Dial Company in Ottawa, Illinois, painting the hour markings onto watch faces using a radium paint that glows in the dark. Their boss claims that radium is harmless, and when the workers develop jaw and bone pain, company doctors dismiss their concerns. Only when the women travel to Chicago do they find a doctor who reveals their true diagnosis: deadly radium poisoning. While time is running out for Catherine and her friends, they bravely take a stand to save others from a similar fate.
Based on a true story, These Shining Lives pays homage to the women’s luminous spirit of courage, strength and determination to seek justice.
