Poliomyelitis and the Salk Vaccine: Secondary Sources and Related Material
Several secondary sources provide an overview of the history of polio, the development of the polio vaccine, the personalities involved in the fight to prevent polio, and the lives of polio victims. All are available at either the Bentley Historical Library or the University Library [MIRLYN Online Catalog]
Two sources that deal in detail with the history of polio are John R. Paul's A History of Poliomyelitis (New Haven, 1971) and Naomi Rogers' Dirt and Disease: Polio Before FDR (New Brunswick, 1992).
The development of the Salk vaccine and the events leading up to it is provided by Jane S. Smith in Patenting the Sun: Polio and the Salk Vaccine (New York, 1990). A biographical account of Salk and the vaccine appears in Richard Carter's Breakthrough: The Saga of Jonas Salk (New York, 1966). John R. Paul's book Thomas Francis. Jr., 1900-1969: a Biographical Memoir (Washington, D.C., 1974) details the life of Thomas Francis
The debate over live virus vaccine versus killed virus vaccine is recounted by Aaron E. Klein in Trial by Fury: The Polio Vaccine Controversy (New York, 1972).
Accounts largely based on survivors' perspectives include Leonard Kriegel The Long Walk Home (New York, 1964) and Luther Robinson We Made Peace with Polio (Nashville, 1960).
A 1999 Senior Honors thesis by Sarah Lambert, "Making History: Examining the 1955 Salk Vaccine Field Trial in the Context of Contemporary Research Ethics," is available the Bentley Historical Library.
The Michigan Alumnus marked the 40th anniversary of the vaccine with a piece in the March/April 1995 issue. Tom Rogers' "Stubborn UM Scientist Delivers Salk's Dream" [pdf] focuses largely on the vaccine evaluation and press conference.
Related University of Michigan websites:
- School of Public Health (includes text of announcement press release.)
- Thomas Francis, Jr. Medal