By Jeff O’Flynn, Sabin Student Assistant

Hilary Koprowski is considered by many to be equally important as Salk and Sabin in the quest to eradicate poliomyelitis. When Koprowski passed away last month, his illustrious career was recounted in his obituary and included such notable achievements as the development of a live-virus polio vaccine, improvement of the rabies vaccine, and directorship of the world-renowned Wistar Institute in Pennsylvania. His interest in the live-virus polio vaccine caused his career to overlap with Albert Sabin’s work regularly. The obituary details the competition between Sabin and Koprowski for the eventual triumph of their various polio vaccines.[1] Letters in the Albert B. Sabin archives indicate that the two great scientists often shared material and data though, unfortunately, they did not have an entirely conflict-free relationship. Continue reading →

Sabin project student assistant Katie Pintz created a couple of lesson plans to encourage the use of the the newly digitized materials in the Albert B. Sabin Archives. They are:

• “Albert Sabin and the Cold War” – which is a lesson plan for high school United States history classes.
• “Albert Sabin and Bioethics” – which is a lesson plan for high school biology classes.

We look forward to hearing what you think about these lesson plans. Please give us feedback either here on the blog, or you can send your comments to chhp@uc.edu.
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The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) recently launched, and, of course, I wanted to see if there was anything Sabin-related in the collection. Doing a quick search for Albert Sabin revealed a bust which resides at the National Portrait Gallery. According to the DPLA, this bust, a 1966 cast after 1958 terra cotta original, was originally sculpted by Edmond Romulus Amateis.[1] This bust was originally created for the Polio Wall of Fame in Warm Springs, Georgia. We have a photograph in our collection of Dr. Sabin and National Foundation President Basil O’Connor posing with the bust created by Amateis. Continue reading →

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the National Medal of Science with a new online exhibit. In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation creating the National Medal of Science. President John F. Kennedy awarded the first medal to Theodore von Kármán in 1963. This new exhibit features some of the 476 men and women who have been recognized for “their outstanding contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical, or engineering sciences,”[1] including our own Dr. Albert Bruce Sabin. Continue reading →

The Winter 2013 issue of The Watermark, which is the quarterly publication of the Archivists and Librarians in the History of the Health Sciences (ALHHS), features an article on the Albert B. Sabin digitization project. This article is based on my presentation at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference October 2012 meeting. Continue reading →

While updating metadata records in the digitized collection, I came across the name “Alan Goffe” several times. I was interested to learn more about this man who frequently communicated with Dr. Sabin. Luckily, I found a book called, Between Two Worlds: The Story of Black British Scientist Alan Goffe. This book was written by Gaia Goffe, cousin of the late scientist, as a high school project. Later, the book was published by Hansib Books.[1] I found this book to be very interesting because it explains the relationship between Drs. Sabin and Goffe, as well as their shared interest in an oral polio vaccine. Continue reading →

By Mary Kroeger Vuyk, Sabin Student Assistant

I recently completed the processing of additional materials belonging to the Albert B. Sabin collection. This addendum to the original collection finding aid was received after Sabin’s initial donation of materials and consists of letters, lab data, photographs, and other items. A significant part of this collection reflects Dr. Sabin’s tenure as President of the Weizmann Institute of Science. The finding aid for this addendum can be found at the OhioLINK Finding Aid Repository.

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By Mary Kroeger Vuyk, Sabin Student Assistant

Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Albert Sabin? While many may view Albert Sabin as a super scientist or a super doctor, I’m not entirely sure that many would consider him a Superhero. And yet… that’s exactly how hundreds of thousands of people worldwide viewed him almost 50 years ago.

While I was aware of Dr. Sabin’s contribution, it wasn’t until I began going through the letters sent to Sabin that I started to fully understand the impact that he had on the lives of others. In one letter, Julie Harrison writes, “How much you have enriched the lives of all of us! Your oral vaccine for polio is surely one of the greatest accomplishments. We do thank you; you are truly an American hero.”[1] Continue reading →

This fall, the Albert B. Sabin digitization project has been featured in several different places. I wanted to share all of them with you so you can check them out!

First, I want to tell you about my recent presentation at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) Fall 2012 Meeting in October. My presentation, “The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: Reconstructing a Collection on the Web while Balancing Privacy, Restrictions, and Access,” was part of the session called, “Student Paper Session: Digital Reconstructions.” This was a great opportunity to discuss how Sabin project staff are dealing with sensitive issues, such as privacy and classified government information, in a digital collection. It was great sharing the project with the group at MARAC, and I even received a couple of questions at the end of the session. (MARAC plans to have all of their presentations from this meeting, including mine, available on their digital repository soon. Be sure to check it out!) Continue reading →