Between 1945 and 1955, there was a disease that struck terror in the hearts of parents—polio. Polio used to strike thousands of children in the United States each year. According to one historian: “By mid-century, polio had become the nation’s most feared disease. And with good reason. It hit without warning. It killed some victims and marked others for life…”
In 1945, there were 12 Grecians suffering from polio. More than half the men, women, and children attacked by polio recovered with no enduring affects; 29% were left with a slight residual paralysis, 18% remained handicapped, and 3% died. It was most fatal to children under the age of 10, such as Ronald Gammeriello of North Greece Road who contracted polio when he was one and died from it at age 4.
Polio was one of the costliest diseases known to medicine. Care and treatment often extended for months afterward. Some patients with serious breathing problems were placed in an “iron lung,” a cylindrical chamber that surrounded a patient’s body from the neck down, and used rhythmic alterations in air pressure to force air in and out of the lungs. The Barnard Fire Department had an iron lung machine, but in 1950, realizing their machine was better off in a hospital setting, they donated it to Strong Memorial Hospital.
Every January for more than 10 years, the women of Greece participated in the March of Dimes campaign to raise money to find a vaccine to prevent polio. It was an all-out effort joined by many others in the community in support of research for a vaccine. Every year the Men’s Brotherhood of Bethany Presbyterian Church held a dance; two of the organizers were polio survivors. The Barnard Teen Canteen also held a dance each year, donating the proceeds to the effort. There were collection boxes in all the schools. The Paddy Hill Players put on a benefit show. The campaign culminated in the Mothers March, a night when everyone was asked to leave their porch lights on and the mothers went from door to door in their neighborhoods soliciting donations. Every home in the town was canvassed. In 1952 almost 2,000 mothers participated. In 1953, the Mothers March alone garnered $10,000 of the almost $13,000 raised. Lillian Sauers noted in her diary for January 27, 1954, that she collected $12.50 from ten of her neighbors; that’s almost $150 in today’s terms.
The hope for a vaccine was realized in 1955. That year, the Jonas Salk vaccine was approved; it was made from completely inactivated polio viruses and injected into the body. A kindergarten class in a Greece school was a testing site for the Salk vaccine; the children were given two shots over a two-week period in May 1954.They were part of the largest human experiment in history. Today, cases in the United States are very rare.
Explore More on the Childhood Diseases from our Bicentennial Snapshot # 47
Maureen Whalen
Researcher, writer, narrator, and a retired librarian and local historian who worked at the Charlotte Branch Library, Author of A History of the Seneca Park Zoo, and Co-Author of the following books Winning the Vote in Greece, Our Town in World War II. She is the Narrator to all the Bicentennial Snapshots.