Guide to the Catherine Wolfe Donohue Collection
Descriptive Summary
Collection Title: Catherine Wolfe Donohue Collection, Span Dates: 1936-1957, Bulk Dates: 1936-1939
Call number/identifier: Manuscript Series CXIII
Origination: Materials collected by the family of Catherine Wolfe Donohue.
Physical Description: 1 box, 0.4 linear feet
Languages: Collection is in English.
Note:
For information about holdings inquire at the McCormick Library reference desk.
Repository: Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections , Evanston, IL 60208
Abstract: Catherine Wolfe Donohue, who contracted radium poisoning while an employee of the Radium Dial Company in Ottawa, Illinois, was part of the class action suit against the company. Damages were awarded to the women in 1938 by the Illinois Industrial Commission. This collection consists of a scrapbook created by the Donohue family with newspaper clippings about the plight of the women and their efforts to get treatment and compensation, some family photographs, publications from Argonne National Laboratory, articles about the case, and a letter from Donohue's cousin, Mary Carroll Cassidy.
Subjects
Donohue, Catherine Wolfe, d. 1938
Radium Dial Company
Watch dial painters
Watch dial painters--Diseases--United States--History
Radium--poisoning
Radiation Injuries--history
Occupational diseases
Radium paint--Toxicology
Radiation Effects
Catherine Wolfe Donohue's family created a scrapbook of newspaper articles about radium poisoning and the suit brought against the Radium Dial Company of Ottawa, Illinois where Mrs. Donohue worked. Mary Carroll Cassidy, first cousin to Mary Jane Donohue, Catherine's daughter, arranged to donate the material to the McCormick Library of Special Collections on behalf of the entire family in 1992.
Processing Note
The original scrapbook containing the newspaper clippings was badly deteriorated, making use of the materials difficult. The scrapbook was disassembled and the pages with articles and clippings arranged chronologically into folders.
Access
Materials must be examined in the McCormick Library reading room. Photocopying is restricted at the discretion of the McCormick Library staff due to the fragile nature of the scrapbook pages and newspaper clippings.
Copyright
It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all the necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials. Inquiries should be directed to the Curator of the McCormick Library of Special Collections.
Preferred Citation
Catherine Wolfe Donohue Collection, Manuscript Series CXIII, Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections, Northwestern University Library, Evanston, Illinois.
Abstract: Catherine Wolfe Donohue, who contracted radium poisoning while an employee of the Radium Dial Company in Ottawa, Illinois, was part of the class action suit against the company. Damages were awarded to the women in 1938 by the Illinois Industrial Commission. This collection consists of a scrapbook created by the Donohue family with newspaper clippings about the plight of the women and their efforts to get treatment and compensation, some family photographs, publications from Argonne National Laboratory, articles about the case, and a letter from Donohue's cousin, Mary Carroll Cassidy.
Biographical History
Catherine Wolfe Donohue was a victim of radium poisoning which she contracted while employed at the Radium Dial Company in Ottawa, Illinois as a watch painter. She and other women who worked in the plant painting the luminous dials on watches brought a class action suit against the company. The Illinois Industrial Commission awarded them damages in 1938. It was one of the first cases in which the employer was made responsible for the health of a company's employees. The company's efforts to appeal the case through the supreme court system failed. The Donohue family created a scrapbook of newspaper articles and clippings describing the plight of the women and their efforts to get treatment and compensation. Most of the articles were published between 1936 and 1939, although a few appeared in 1946, 1954 and 1957. Catherine Wolfe Donohue died on July 27, 1938, soon after testifying before the Commission.
Scope and Content note
The Donohue collection consists of a scrapbook with newspaper clippings and articles written between 1936 and 1957 about the Radium Dial Company lawsuit; two Donohue family photographs; publications from Argonne National Laboratory; and letters from attorney Leonard J. Grossman and members of the Donohue family. A photocopy of an article published by the Wall Street Journal in 1983 is also included, as well as a letter from Mary Carroll Cassidy describing the donation.
Arrangement of the Collection
With the exception of the letter and photographs from Donohue family members (folder 1) and the packet of pamphlets and leaflets from Argonne National Laboratory (folder 8), the folders containing pages of newspaper articles and clippings have been arranged chronologically (folders 2 - 7).
Description of Contents
Letter from Mary Carroll Cassidy, January 18, 1992; 2 photographs of the Donohue family, ca. 1938. [ Folder 1 ]
Newspaper clippings, 1936-1937. [ Folder 2 ]
Newspaper clippings, February 1938. [ Folder 3 ]
Newspaper clippings, March-April 1938. [ Folder 4 ]
Newspaper clippings, June-November 1938. [ Folder 5 ]
Note: Catherine Wolfe Donohue died on July 27, 1938.
Newspaper clippings, 1939 [ Folder 6 ]
Note: Pages include letter to Tom Donohue from attorney Leonard J. Grossman, July 1, 1939.
Newspaper clippings, 1946, 1954, 1957, 1983 [ Folder 7 ]
Argonne National Laboratory Information Packet: [ Folder 8 ]
Note: Contents: Map with leaflets describing facility and programs; Argonne National Laboratory; 101 Atomic Terms and What They Mean; Argonne Reactors/Argonaut CP-11A; Argonne's High-Speed Computers.
