The 1950s are often considered to be a safe and quiet decade when American families moved to the suburbs, drove large modern automobiles, and enjoyed a stable and prosperous economy. But beneath this tranquil scene, parents faced a great fear-the dreaded poliomyelitis, or polio as it is commonly known. The disease had killed over thirteen hundred Americans (a large percentage were children) and crippled more than eighteen thousand more in the year 1954 alone. On April 12, 1955, American received the much-welcomed news that Dr. Jonas Salk had developed a vaccine against the frightening disease. Immediately, the federal government implemented a plan to have the vaccine produced by six licensed pharmaceutical companies and distributed to children throughout the country. Within one year, the deaths attributed to polio declined by 50 per cent, and this downward trend continues to the present when polio has been totally eradicated in most of the world.
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The following are documents available on the Salk Polio Vaccine:
Charts and graphs with figures on polio cases in the United States
Report, "Alternative Calculations of Total Costs and Federal Shares" concerning polio vaccinations
White House press release with text of citations given by the President to Dr. Jonas E. Salk and the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, April 22, 1955
Supplement by Oveta Culp Hobby to the citations above, April 22, 1955
Remarks by Oveta Culp Hobby, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, given at a conference on the Salk polio vaccine, April 22, 1955
Senate Bill S.2501 authorizing grants to the states to assist in providing children and expectant mothers with the vaccination against poliomyelitis
Press release statement by the President about the polio vaccine situation, May 31, 1955
Press release statement by the President supporting the drive for polio vaccinations, May 17, 1958
Supplemental report to the President by the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare on the distribution of the polio vaccine, July 13, 1955
Minutes of Cabinet Meeting on the Salk vaccine, April 29, 1955
Cabinet Paper, CI-24, "The Salk Vaccine", April 29, 1955
Telegram, Spencer to President regarding distribution of commercial polio vaccine, April 15, 1955
Press release regarding the Cutter Laboratories vaccine, April 30, 1955
The following are photographs of the presentation of a special citation to Dr. Jonas Salk by President Eisenhower on April 22, 1955. Also present are Oveta Culp Hobby, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, and Basil O'Connor, President of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. The third photograph is of Dr. Jonas Salk holding his citation.
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For a listing of collections in the Eisenhower Library related to the Salk Polio Vaccine, please see the Salk Vaccine Search Report.
Secondary resources on this topic include:
Breakthrough: The Saga of Jonas Salk by Richard Carter, Trident Press, New York, 1966.
Patenting the Sun: Polio and The Salk Vaccine by Jane S. Smith, William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1990.
Use these searches to find information on any of the Presidential Libraries web sites. Check the box next to the library or libraries you wish to search.
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