The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: American Archives Month

The clue for #49 down was "Vaccine name."

October is American Archives Month! To celebrate, project staff wanted to showcase some interesting newspaper clippings in the Sabin collection. We hope you enjoy what we have found.

The first seen here is a crossword puzzle that Sabin student assistant Mary Kroeger Vuyk recently found while processing a box in the collection. Ida Sherman sent Dr. Sabin this 1985 newspaper clipping from the Atlanta Constitution after filling out the answers to all of the clues, including #49 down. See whose name is listed as the answer for “Vaccine name”? At the bottom of the crossword, she wrote, “Now your fame is secure!”

The cartoon reads: "Another great discovery, Professor Sabin?" "Yes ... the grace, the charm, the beauty of Brazilian women."

Another fun find was something the Winkler Center recently received with the materials sent to us by Mrs. Heloisa Sabin and her son. When creating the preliminary inventory, Sabin student assistant Jeff O’Flynn found this cartoon along with Dr. and Mrs. Sabin’s wedding announcement from 1972. The marriage announcement read “Sabin ligado ao Brasil,” and noted that he and Heloisa Dunschee de Abranches fell in love while he was in Rio.

Finally, I wanted to share a newspaper clipping from when Dr. Sabin was at the Medical University of South Carolina. In 1982, Luciano Pavarotti came to Charleston to perform for the Health Sciences Foundation of MUSC and celebrate Dr. Sabin and his accomplishments. Apparently, one of Pavarotti’s friends asked him to sing in honor of Dr. Sabin. He replied twice that he was busy before he finally agreed. Why did he agree to sing for the event honoring Dr. Sabin? The author of the article believed, “The concert seems to be a way of saying thank you to Sabin.” As a parent himself, Pavarotti recognized the importance of the oral vaccine and what it did for children around the world.

Pavarotti came to MUSC to perform at a concert in honor of Dr. Sabin. In the photograph on the right, Dr. Sabin is welcoming Pavarotti to South Carolina.

We hope you enjoyed the newspaper clippings showcased here!

Note: The Pavarotti newspaper clipping, from the November 21, 1982 edition of The News & Courier – The Evening Post in Charleston, S.C., can be found in Series #1 Correspondence, Sub-series Individual, Box #18, Folder #1 – Pavarotti, Luciano, 1982-1988.

In 2010, the University of Cincinnati Libraries received a $314,258 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to digitize the correspondence and photographs of Dr. Albert B. Sabin. This digitization project has been designated a NEH “We the People” project, an initiative to encourage and strengthen the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture through the support of projects that explore significant events and themes in our nation’s history and culture and that advance knowledge of the principles that define America. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.