Dr. Sabin's Statement to the press regarding his trip to Brazil, April 1980

Recently, I have been reading Polio, which is a collection of essays edited by Thomas M. Daniel and Frederick C. Robbins. Among the many interesting essays in the book is one by João Baptista Risi, Jr. He describes the different mass vaccination campaigns in Brazil, and in doing so, he discusses Dr. Sabin’s trip to the country in 1980 and its result.

The essay stated that Dr. Sabin offered his assistance to the Brazilian Minister of Health to implement the national vaccination days plan, using the oral polio vaccine. Dr. Sabin was a well-known figure in Brazil and had helped other countries implement vaccination campaigns. According to Risi, “[Sabin] was welcomed with great enthusiasm, as we looked forward to receiving technical advice on particular issues, and his support was necessary to insure public acceptance. Very surprisingly, however, he paid less attention to the proposed vaccination plan and focused special interest on defining more precisely the magnitude of the problem of poliomyelitis in Brazil” (p. 172). Apparently, Dr. Sabin “did not accept objections to his proposal” and left Brazil on an unpleasant note (p. 172). Continue reading →

When I was reading David M. Oshinsky’s Polio: An American Story awhile back, I noted a book that he briefly mentioned called A History of Poliomyelitis by John R. Paul, MD. I finally got around to looking at this book a little closer, and I thought that I would give you a glimpse into the relationship between Dr. Paul and Dr. Sabin.

Memorandum from Dr. Francis Blake, President for the Board for the Investigation and Control of Influenza and other Epidemic Diseases in the Army, 1943

According to the Yale University Archives and Manuscripts website, Dr. Paul was at the Yale School of Medicine for over 30 years, where he studied many diseases, including polio. Through his research on this disease, as well as his involvement as director of the Neurotropic Virus Disease Commission of the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board and the Virus Commission during the 1940’s, he and Dr. Sabin corresponded a lot! Our collection has several different folders dedicated to correspondence between Dr. Paul and Dr. Sabin, as well as other letters scattered throughout our Military Service, Oral Poliomyelitis Vaccine, and Poliomyelitis series. Continue reading →

Attendees of the Second International Conference on Live Poliovirus Vaccines pose for a group photograph.

Another photograph from our collection can be seen here. It was taken during the Second International Conference on Live (Attenuated) Poliovirus Vaccines, which was held in June 1960 at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and sponsored by the Pan American Health Organization, the World Health Organization, and the Sister Elizabeth Kenny Foundation. According to the back of the photo, participants came together “to discuss [the live polio vaccine’s] present status, trends and possibilities for use of this type of vaccine to delineate guidelines for conduct of further work and field programs.” Dr. Sabin was in attendance. Can you spot him in the crowd? Continue reading →

What do Betty White, George Bush, Pope John Paul II and Whoopi Goldberg all have in common with Dr. Albert Bruce Sabin? They were all named Kentucky Colonels!

Card given to Dr. Sabin by the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, 1963

In Dr. Sabin’s archives is a letter and membership card from the Honorable Order of the Kentucky Colonels. I found these documents to be interesting, especially since one of my colleagues working on the Sabin grant, Linda Newman, is also a Kentucky Colonel. The mission statement of this exclusive organization is “[t]he Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, Inc. is irrevocably dedicated to and is organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes…” The Colonels support many different causes, such as purchasing wheelchairs and books for children, in order to support their mission. Continue reading →