The April 2012 issue of Scientific American Magazine features an article about Dr. Albert B. Sabin and Dr. Mikhail P. Chumakov called “Birth of a Cold War Vaccine” by William Swanson. Mr. Swanson conducted research in the Sabin Archives for the special report on polio. Regarding the “surprising” alliance of these scientists, Mr. Swanson wrote, “Their joint venture would have outraged fanatics on both sides of the iron curtain if those fanatics had been aware of it. Yet the collaboration—fleshed out in archival materials recently made available at the University of Cincinnati and by several contemporaneous sources—led to one of the greatest medical achievements of the 20th century and saved countless lives around the world” (p. 66). Continue reading
Category Archives: Digital Collections
The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: Commemorative Stamp
By Megan Ryan, Sabin Project Student Assistant
A scientist cannot rest while knowledge which might reduce suffering rests on the shelf.
-Albert B. Sabin [1]
On March 8, 2006, Dr. Albert B. Sabin was recognized for his work in the elimination of polio by the United States Postal Service. An 87-cent stamp was created to honor the virologist “who developed the ‘sugar-cube’ vaccine that’s credited with wiping out polio in much of the world.”[2] The stamp, part of the Distinguished Americans series, was issued to recognized his various accolades and research accomplishments. The USA Philatelic Catalog explained that Dr. Sabin’s “successful efforts to develop a polio vaccine made him one of the most esteemed scientists in the world. For his dedication to fighting polio and other infectious diseases, he received numerous awards, including the National Medal of Science (1970) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1986).”[3] Continue reading
Answering the call: 25th General Hospital featured in UC Magazine
The April edition of UC Magazine features an article based on Courage and Skill in World War II: 25th General Hospital, a UC Libraries online exhibit. Additional photographs, texts and video can be viewed from the digital collection.
During the summer of 1941, the U.S. Army invited the University of Cincinnati to organize the 25th General Hospital to serve as a major medical facility in the European war theater. More than 600 physicians, surgeons, nurses, and enlisted men served the 25th with distinction in England, France, and Belgium until the end of the war. An earlier incarnation of the 25th had bravely served on the battlefields of World War I.
The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: Featured in the Ohio Archivist
In my estimation no man has ever contributed so much effective information — so continuously over so many years — to so many aspects of poliomyelitis, as Sabin.
-John R. Paul, MD, renowned epidemiologist
The Spring 2012 issue of the Ohio Archivist is now available on the Society of Ohio Archivists’ (SOA) website. Along with SOA news and information for Ohio archivists, this issue features an article on the Sabin digitization project by Stephanie Bricking, Linda Newman, and Stephen Marine. The article describes how the Henry R. Winkler Center is “Making Dr. Sabin Accessible for All.”
Be sure to click the Ohio Archivist logo above to visit the SOA website and download a copy of the issue!
Continue reading
The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: March 30 is National Doctors Day
The One Hundred First Congress of the United States passed a joint resolution marking March 30, 1991, as “National Doctors Day.” This resolution recognized the importance of physicians by saying:
Whereas society owes a debt of gratitude to physicians for the contributions of physicians in enlarging the reservoir of scientific knowledge, increasing the number of scientific tools, and expanding the ability of health professionals to use the knowledge and tools effectively in the never-ending fight against disease; and
Whereas society owes a debt of gratitude to physicians for the sympathy and compassion of physicians in ministering to the sick and in alleviating human suffering
The resolution also called on the President to issue a proclamation for “National Doctors Day.” Continue reading
Luna Collections: Scheduled Maintenance
The scheduled Luna upgrade is complete and all digital collections made available through the Luna platform are available.
Earlier post:
The digital collections made available through the Luna platform will be unavailable on Friday, March 23rd, beginning at 10 a.m., while a scheduled maintenance upgrade is applied to the Luna platform. (See http://digproj.libraries.uc.edu:8180/luna/servlet/allCollections.) This post will be amended when the upgrade is complete. Please email ucdp@uc.edu with any questions. Thank you.
The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: Reaction to the Salk Polio Vaccine Clinical Trials
![](https://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/poliovac_1953-54_037-1.jpg)
Letter from Dr. Sabin to Dr. Richard Nelson regarding the 1954 mass trial of Salk's poliomyelitis vaccine.
By Megan Ryan, Sabin Project Student Assistant
The clinical trials for Dr. Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine began on February 23rd, 1954. This initial mass inoculation was huge in scale, “the clinical trials of the Salk vaccine were the largest ever conducted, involving nearly two million children”. Immediately the vaccine was announced and hailed as an enormous victory in the medical field against a disease plaguing countries around the world. In Dr. Salk’s obituary the aforementioned announcement was referred to as “the turning point in the battle against polio” and it was said that, “news caused a public sensation probably unequaled by any health development in modern times”.[1] Continue reading
The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: March 3, 1993
![](https://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/tributepage.jpg)
Page from the booklet called, "A Tribute to Albert B. Sabin." This is a copy of a certificate signed by former President Bill Clinton.
The nineteenth anniversary of Dr. Albert B. Sabin’s passing has recently occurred. In memory of Dr. Sabin, I thought I would take a look at some materials that were published shortly after he passed away on March 3, 1993. An introduction to the 1993 issue of Biologicals paying homage to Dr. Sabin said, “The contributions of Albert B. Sabin to modern virology and to public health remain so huge and his personality was so rich and unusual, that it is difficult to pay proper homage in a short article.”[1] This quote is still very true today, but hopefully these materials can share some insight into how friends and colleagues felt at the time. Continue reading
The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: "Useful to Mankind"
I read a recent New York Times obituary of Dr. Renato Dulbecco, a Nobel Prize winning virologist. In 1975, he and his colleagues received the award “for their discoveries concerning the interaction between tumour viruses and the genetic material of the cell.”[1] Although most knew him from his cancer research, Dr. Dulbecco’s earlier research was an important piece of Dr. Sabin’s oral polio vaccine puzzle. The work that they completed together was mentioned in a previous blog post called “A Polio Research Collaboration.” Continue reading
The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: New Display in the Winkler Center
By Megan Ryan, Sabin Project Student Assistant
![](https://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Untitled-1.jpg)
The Sabin family is seen here with the street sign that is currently on display in the Winkler Center. (This photograph originally appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer on 29 April 2000.)
The newest display case in the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions features a small portion of the multitude of accolades deservedly presented to Dr. Albert B. Sabin. The display is titled “Highlights of Dr. Albert B. Sabin’s Awards and Honors,” and it features plaques spanning the years of 1960-1987. Dr. Sabin is highlighted as the recipient of the honors from the American Jewish Literary Foundation, Associacão Médica de Santos, the Pan American Medical Society, the Ohio Senior Citizens Group, Associacão “A Hebraica” de São Paulo, the American Legion, and the Tokyo Society of Medical Sciences and Faculty of Medicine, to name a few. Continue reading