[Letter] [19]38 March 9 [to] Margaret / H.S. Miner.

The letter is written on Harlan S. Miner / 915 Monmouth Street / Gloucester City, N.J.

Miner responds to Margaret's letter and her request for information about Marie Curie (who is represented in the collection) for use at the next meeting of her club. Miner states that he missed meeting Curie during his trips to Europe, but that her work on radium and Meso-Thorium was useful in creating luminous dials and surfaces. Miner states that the Women of America raised $100,000 to purchase radium for her, and the sum was awarded to her by President Harding. Curie was also feted by the Chemists of America (Miner was present at the dinner), and she afterwards traveled around the country, accepting Miner's invitation to visit his factory. Miner recounts the day he spent with her, watching her write thank you notes to President Harding and the Women of America, showing her the factory, thanking her for developing the process in use there, and presenting her with $500 worth of their product. A few hours later Curie called to purchase Meso-Thorium at a discounted rate, explaining that she did not do so earlier to avoid the impression of being ungrateful. On her second visit to America, Curie asked to see Miner and they visited in the train all the way to Washington where she was honored by President Hoover, who had tears in his eyes when she thanked him for helping all the children of the Allies during the war. Miner relates that Curie could not shake hands as she had been injured in an accident with the radium, and that she had no interest in strangers or sightseers, and only came to know him as a scientist to discuss scientific matters. Miner closes by noting that Curie was a socialist who had no faith. He tells Margaret he is preparing for his 50th at Lehigh. Miner was chief chemist and helped to start the Welsbach Company. He was a student at Lehigh in the 1880s, mentored by chemistry professor Chandler (who is the recipient of other letters in the collection).