Polio Exhibition Opens at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History

WASHINGTON, APRIL 11, 2005 – The news media got a sneak peak this morning at “Whatever Happened to Polio?” a new exhibition at The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, which will open on April 12 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the announcement that the Salk polio vaccine was safe and effective.   The March of Dimes is the presenting sponsor of this exhibition.  Pictured, from left:  Dr. Brent D. Glass, director of the National Museum of American History; Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, a member of the March of Dimes Board of Trustees, chair of the Salk Vaccine 50th Anniversary, and granddaughter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who founded the March of Dimes; and Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes.  “Whatever Happened to Polio?” tells the story of the polio epidemics in the United States in the 20th century, the vaccine development, current efforts to eradicate the disease worldwide, and the story of polio survivors (including the most famous of them all, FDR) and their influence on American society.