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The Polio Pledge
Goal: Students will learn about the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (predecessor to the March of Dimes) and their recommendations for presenting the spread of polio during the 1955 polio epidemic in the Valley.
Objectives:
1) Students will analyze the “Polio Pledge” that appeared in the Post-Crescent on August 19, 1955.
2) Students will be able to name at least two actions the National Foundation suggested to prevent the spread of Polio.
3) Students will be able to name at least two things the National Foundation recommends against.
4) Students will be able to describe the actions that the Foundation recommends parents of polio patients should take.
5) Students will evaluate the effectiveness of the advice given by the Foundation.
6) Students will organize their own small-scale class-wide fundraiser for the March of Dimes.
Read the “Polio Pledge” that was published in the Post-Crescent on August 19, 1955. Read the document once to get a general ideal of its purpose and a second time to focus on details.
1) For whom is this pledge written? In other words, what is the intended audience?
2) What actions does the pledge suggest can help to prevent polio?
3) What are things that the pledge suggests should NOT be done?
4) How could such restrictions help to prevent the spread of polio?
5) How does the pledge tell parents they should act should a child come down with polio?
6) Based upon the information your teacher has given you about polio, how might a doctor treat a polio patient?
7) Do you think the advice in this pledge is good advice or not? Why or why not?
8) The pledge mentions the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis and the March of Dimes. The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis was an organization founded in 1935 by a friend of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had himself been paralyzed by polio. The foundation raised money to pay for patient care and to fund research on the cause and prevention of polio. In 1938, the foundation began a fundraising campaign called the March of Dimes, in which they called on all Americans to give a dime to fight polio. The fundraiser was a huge success and continued for many years to come.
The money raised by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis through the March of Dimes was very important to families of polio patients. At the time the March of Dimes began, few people had health insurance, and government programs to provide such insurance were just being created. There was also no federal funding for medical research on polio. With money raised by local chapters, the National Foundation funded the care of patients, gave scholarships to nurses and doctors who needed specific training in the care of polio patients, paid for laboratory research about the disease, and also bought equipment used for treatment and hired trucks to transport it to areas experiencing an epidemic. The Foundation funded the work of Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin, whose research eventually led to a vaccine for polio.
Today, the March of Dimes is its own organization that works to prevent birth defects and premature births. With your teacher, you can brainstorm ways to help the March of Dimes with their work. Perhaps you can raise money by doing chores around your house or for your neighbors. You could hold your own March of Dimes and encourage everybody in your school to participate. Maybe your class could hold an art show and auction off students’ artwork. Contact your local chapter of the March of Dimes (see their website at www.marchofdimes.com) and arrange for someone to come to the class to tell you about the organization. Set a goal for how much you want to raise and decide upon the length of time your campaign will last. Track your fundraising progress on a chart.
"Polio Pledge" from the Appleton Post-Crescent, August 19, 1955
