A Strange Parcel

The arrival of radium in Montréal, 1922

In October 1922, Ernest Gendreau travelled to the American border with two detectives. At Rouses Point border crossing, he met with American officials who were watching over a strange parcel. 1.25 grams of radium was awaiting the Doctor’s arrival, bought for $100,000 from the United States Radium Corporation of New York by the Government of Québec. This sample would be the key to making Gendreau’s dream institute a reality.

A room inside the United States Radium Corporation, date unknown

Back in Montréal, the precious metal was kept for a few months in a bank’s safe behind led shielding. Meanwhile the Université de Montréal was setting up the Radium Institute’s future laboratories. Destroyed by a fire before their completion, the facilities were swiftly rebuilt. This feat left quite an impression on a visiting University of Strasbourg delegate:

All this was made even more prodigious by the fact that these facilities were all completely new, burnt to the ground as they were, not even two years ago.

Université de Montréal, Saint-Denis Street, after the fire, 1922

Listen to the audio clip (in French) with the translated transcript : Inauguration Speech of the Radium Institute

On April 3, 1923, Montréal’s Institut du radium and its new laboratories were inaugurated. During the evening, scientists turned off the lights to let guests appreciate the eerie spectacle of radioluminescence. Doctor Gendreau explained how radium salts, when dissolved, would be pumped to extract emanations called radon. These would be used for the institute’s various treatments and experiments. Excess emanations would be shared between hospitals across the province like Notre-Dame Hospital, Montreal General Hospital, Royal Victoria Hospital and Québec City’s Hôtel-Dieu Hospital.

Watch the video clip with the transcript : Radioluminescence of Radium.