Whatever Happened to Polio

Whatever Happened to Polio?

Closed September 3, 2006
Online

This exhibition marked the fiftieth anniversary of the announcement that Dr. Jonas Salk had developed a vaccine to prevent polio, the most notorious disease of the 20th century until AIDS appeared. Stories cover the polio epidemic in the United States, the vaccine development, current world efforts to stop polio transmission, and of survivors and the influences they have had on American society. The exhibition also explored some of the changes in American medicine in the 20th century and the impact a disease can have on society as a whole. Artifacts included a pair of Franklin D. Roosevelt's leg braces, a syringe and vaccine used by Dr. Jonas Salk during the 1954 polio clinical trials, and an iron lung. 

The exhibition website (coming soon) features information and objects from the exhibition, plus extra educational resources.