The Golden Age of the 1950s

In the 1950s, America enjoyed an iconic golden age of full employment; there was a massive expansion of suburbia throughout the nation and a widening range of entertainment in the form of movies, television shows, and rock and roll stars. Consumer spending peaked, with Americans anxious to buy homes, automobiles, and televisions. With World War II as a memory, most of the decade enjoyed a time of peace, and we welcomed the birth of millions of children during the era of the Baby Boomers. The decade also reflected a gradual change in our culture in that Americans enjoyed more leisure time—many images of families showing smiling faces at baseball games, amusement parks, beaches, mountain trips, and much more. To the world, it seemed as if America had finally arrived. Our success was real indeed. We had arrived, but so had one of the nightmares from our past - polio.

Along the way, science struggled to find the correct answers.

In the Early Twentieth Century

Poliomyletis has existed since human history has been recorded. One of the early cases was that of the famous British writer Sir Walter Scott, who contracted the disease as a baby in 1773, leaving him lame in his right leg for the rest of his life. It wasn't until the twentieth century that polio evolved into an epidemic. Little was understood about the virus and why it could paralyze individuals, causing them to lose the use of their arms, legs, and even the ability to breath. The modernization of America may have contributed to the expansion of the deadly disease in this nation. As urban areas grew, the new communities lacked proper sanitation and sewage management.

The actual scientific study of poliomyelitis, also called infantile paralysis, was a slow process that produced a number of assumptions that turned out to be false.

There was little rhyme or reason as to why some individuals recovered, and others did not. Unfortunately, the numbers were proving that in at least 10% of the cases, sometimes more, the patient died.

After much research, most scientists agreed that the leading causes of polio were related to contaminated water or a lack of proper hand washing. The research indicated that small children, usually under 5, were the primary targets.

1909- Doctors Struggling to Advise the Public

On Christmas Eve, 1909, the Morning Oregonian published a not-so-cheery article, "Physicians Find Baffling Disease: Polio Has Appeared in Epidemic Form to Scare Doctors." The article reported that several people had already died in Portland, Oregon, from polio, and many, especially children, had paralysis in their legs.

The medical researchers at that time suggested that although polio was severe, it was not contagious and that authorities had "no idea" about what was causing it. In less than ten years Public Health authorities reversed their opinion and advised the public that polio was absolutely contagious.

The consensus of most medical people was that cold weather stopped polio from developing and during the winter months the public was safe. Later, this was found not to be true.

It was strongly felt that African American children, for unknown reasons, were immune. This notion, along with others, was just flat-out wrong. It was clear that science was behind in it understanding of the disease.

1909-1910 - Competing Diseases

Science had little understanding of poliomythesis and advised the public that the disease was not contagious and that the public was safe during the year's colder months. The following year, the Morning Oregonian ran another article, abbreviating poliomyelitis to polio, stating that medical people now believed the dangers of the "polio" were exaggerated and blamed the press for "alarming" the public.

In the article "Polio Danger Greatly Exagerrated" It cited tuberculosis, pneumonia, influenza, and enteritis with diarrhea as far more dangerous than other infectious diseases. Antibiotics did not exist then, and the vast number of cases of these other diseases quickly made the case that the public had more critical concerns than polio. A few years later, the so-called "minor illness" of polio, reappeared, killing thousands.

1916

On Saturday, June 17, 1916, New York authorities announced a polio epidemic was flourishing in its community. That year, there were 27,363 cases and 7,130 deaths due to polio in the United States, with over 2,000 deaths in New York City alone. The names and addresses of individuals with confirmed polio cases were published daily in the press, and their houses were identified with placards.

The 1916 epidemic created an atmosphere of fear, and eventually, widespread panic ensued. Thousands fled the city to nearby mountain resorts. Movie theaters closed, meetings were canceled, and public gatherings were almost nonexistent. Children were warned not to drink from water fountains and told to avoid amusement parks, swimming pools, and beaches. The nature of the disease, however, remained largely a mystery.

1940s

By the 1940s, science began catching up with polio research and offered the public some preventive tips. The Dallas Morning News published an article (7/14/1946) entitled "Few Simple Rules May Help Lessen Polio Peril":

• wash your hands

• keep flies away from your food

*Don't swim in polluted water

• avoid becoming extremely fatigued. This guideline came about because of a 1942 case reported by Time Magazine where a family had six children who received tonsillectomy at one time. Five of the six developed polio, and 3 died. This took place in Akron, Ohio, and was considered isolated.

1950s -The Innocent Suffered the Most

In historic Wytheville County, Virginia, the summer of 1950 is remembered as a tragic and disturbing part of their rural Appalachian history. Ambulance sirens screamed all summer during the widespread polio epidemic in the county. Many times, hearses doubled as ambulances, and after the first fatality, the local funeral director purchased a large number of infant and child caskets, fearing that the deaths would increase. He was right. By the end of the summer, the spread of polio in Wytheville was recognized as one of the most significant outbreaks of the deadly virus, per capita, in the nation's history.

Death sometimes came quickly. The mother of nine-year-old Clifton Harmon said to a newspaper reporter years later:

"He got sick on a Sunday, and we took him to Roanoke (nearest hospital) ... By Monday, he was dead." Southwest Virginia Enterprise, for an article, July 24, 1986

Wytheville Families are stuck.

The terrible disease reached deep into the quiet depths of the religious community, and all felt the heartbreak. The Taylor family had four of their six children come down with polio during the summer of 1950. Howard, Danny, Sherman, and Allen became ill in the summer of 1950. Their older sister Bonnie had already contracted the illness in 1944. Two of the Taylor children passed away. Six-year-old Sherman died on July 25, 1950, and his brother Howard survived until 1958.

The Archer family was also stricken with polio. Two brothers, Frank and Robert Archer, and their wives and children shared the same house in Wytheville. One family lived in the downstairs apartment, and of their five children, three were stricken with polio. The Archer family living upstairs had two of their three children develop polio. Despite suffering for weeks and months, all of the Archers recovered.

With a population of only 5,500, the town of Wytheville had 184 cases of polio, and sadly, 17 (all children) passed away.

"Polio was a plague. One day you had a headache and an hour later you were paralyzed. How far the virus crept up your spine determined whether you could walk afterward or even breathe. Parents waited fearfully every summer to see if it would strike. One case turned up and then another. The count began to climb. The city closed. " Richard Rhodes, A Hole in the World

It was abundantly clear that polio was not only a highly contagious disease, but a serious public health issue and its deadliness should not be minimized.

1952 Polio Epidemic

The 1952 polio epidemic was the worst outbreak in the nation's history. Of the 57,628 cases reported that year, 3,145 died and 21,269 were left with mild to disabling paralysis. The tragic event, spread fear throughout the nation, especially parents. The heightened level of public awareness pressured Public Health towards finding a vaccine.

In 1955 it was announced by the National Public Health that American physician Jonas Salk had created a vaccine that was 90% effective in preventing paralytic polio. Within one year cases dropped by 50%. The last case of polio in the United States was in 1979 and by 1995 polio was considered eliminated in the Western Hemisphere.

Resources:

Thomas J. Boyd Museum, Wytheville, Va.

Eisenhower Presidential Library

National Institute of Health

Archival newspapers noted in narrative