Table of Contents • I. Poliomyelitis, Treatment, and Prevention Prior to 1955 • II. The Arrival of the Salk Polio Vaccine: Documents, April-July 1955 • III. Postscript - Polio Prevention after Jonas Salk • IV. Bibliography and Resources • V. Student Assignments • VI. Catalogue of Sources

Section IV. Bibliography and Resources

Those interested will find a rich assortment of websites and other sources detailing the history of the Salk polio vaccine and its place in the history of polio advocacy and prevention. Online or in print, the resources below complement and contextualize the period highlighted here.

Online Resources

Whatever Happened to Polio?
Smithsonian National Museum of American History
A remarkable resource developed in concert with an exhibit marking the 50th anniversary of the Salk polio vaccine. Includes a detailed timeline, photo library, and multimedia (including an animation of the life-cycle of poliovirus).

The Shot Heard 'Round the World: The Development of the Salk Polio Vaccine
University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy
An interactive timeline, focusing primarily on the work of Jonas Salk (at the University of Pittsburgh) and his colleagues and contemporaries, 1947-1955.

Advancing Global Public Health: The Thomas Francis, Jr. Medal: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Salk Polio Vaccine Announcement
University of Michigan
Site designed to accompany a conference at the University of Michigan. Includes video of conference sessions that explore the legacy of the vaccine. "A Brief History" section provides video excerpts from the announcement of the vaccine trial results at the University of Michigan on 12 April 1955, including several not presented in this site.

50th Anniversary of the Polio Vaccine
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Includes short biographies of key contributors to the Salk vaccine and comments from contemporary leaders in medical research and public health on the legacy of the vaccine.

The Polio Vaccine: Freedom from Fear -- The Impact of Salk's Polio Vaccine on American Society
University of Mary Washington
A richly-illustrated, extensively referenced narrative tracing the history of polio and the development of the Salk vaccine. A very useful overview.

1955 Polio Vaccine Trial Announcement
University of Michigan School of Public Health
Includes the full text of the press release announcing results of Salk polio vaccine trial.

Salk Institute for Biological Studies
The private research institution in La Jolla, CA founded by Jonas Salk in 1962. Includes a biography of Jonas Salk and the history of the institute.

March of Dimes
The organization originally known as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. The 'About Us' section provides a history and timeline of the organization.

Rotary International: Polio
Details of efforts by Rotary International's efforts since the 1980s aimed at the worldwide eradication of polio.

Global Polio Eradication Initiative
Resources and data on international eradication efforts; co-sponsored by WHO, CDC, Unicef, and Rotary International.

Video Resources

Jonas Salk's Legacy: The History of Jonas Salk, the Polio Vaccine, and the Salk Institute
A 27-minute video of a lecture from Kathleen Murray of the Salk Institute (Jonas Salk's former assistant).

Print Sources

There is a vast literature available on the history of polio, polio vaccines, and Jonas Salk's life and research. Several of the websites listed above include substantial bibliographies, as do the books listed below, which are provided as suggested starting points for those wishing to explore these events in greater detail.

Oshinsky, David. Polio: An American Story (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005).
The Pulitzer Prize-winning history of polio and American society, focusing primarily on the work of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, Jonas Salk, and other vaccine researchers in the 1940s and 50s. Extensively referenced, using primary and secondary sources. Accessible to a variety audiences.

Offit, Paul. The Cutter Incident (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2005).
An account of the scientific, political, and legal issues surrounding the safety problems associated with the polio vaccine manufactured by Cutter Laboratories in the initial weeks following the vaccine's licensure.

Gould, Tony. A Summer Plague: Polio and Its Survivors (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1995).
Includes many first-person accounts of polio survivors and their perspectives on the development of vaccines against the virus.

Daniel, Thomas, and Frederick Robbins, eds. Polio (Rochester, N.Y.: University of Rochester Press, 1997).
A collection of essays by authors with personal experiences with polio, as patients, scientists, or physicians.

Rogers, Naomi. Dirt and Disease: Polio before FDR (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1992).
A history of polio prior to FDR, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, and subsequent developments that typically receive the majority of attention.

Davis, Fred. Passage through Crisis: Polio Victims and Their Families. (New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1963).

Paul, John R. A History of Poliomyelitis. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971).

Silver, Julie, and Daniel Wilson. Polio Voices: An Oral History from the American Polio Epidemics and Worldwide Eradication Efforts. (London: Praeger, 2007).

Smallman-Raynor, M R., et al., eds. A World Geography: Poliomyelitis, Emergence to Eradication. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006).

Wilson, Daniel J. "A Crippling Fear: Experiencing Polio in the Era of FDR." Bulletin of the History of Medicine 72 (1998): 464-495.

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