Category Archives: Winkler Center

The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: Essays on Sabin

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We are currently in the process of redesigning the current Sabin website, which is very exciting! For this new website, I have been doing some research to create new content and update content already there. Through my search, I came across some essays about Dr. Sabin written by Dr. Allen B. Weisse, a cardiologist and medical historian.

Letter from Allen B. Weisse to Dr. Sabin dated May 18, 1987. Dr. Sabin wrote a reply at the bottom of the letter.

In 1987, Dr. Weisse contacted Dr. Sabin about one of the essays that appeared in a book called Medical Odysseys: The Different and Sometimes Unexpected Pathways to Twentieth-Century Medical Discoveries. (The Sabin Archives has a folder of correspondence between Dr. Sabin and Dr. Weisse that discusses this chapter.[1]) They met later in 1987, when Dr. Weisse conducted an interview for this chapter.

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The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: Letters of Thanks

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While processing some Sabin material to add to the current finding aid, we came across an interesting box. In 2004, the Winkler Center received a large box full of letters that Dr. Sabin received while he was in the hospital. These letters, and many more, poured into Dr. Sabin’s address at the National Institutes of Health because of an article written by Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene titled, “Rx: Don’t forget Sabin on Sunday.” I wanted to share a bit about this column, as well as some letters found in that box. Continue reading →

The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: October 24, World Polio Day

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"World Understanding, World Peace and Polio" by Dr. Albert B. Sabin

October 24 is known as “World Polio Day,” in honor of Dr. Jonas Salk’s birthday. According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, since World Polio Day 2011, the number of new cases of polio has declined by a significant amount. Along with the success of a decrease in polio cases, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative has noted, “Polio eradication partners around the world are marking the first World Polio Day since India was removed from the list of countries with active transmission of wild poliovirus.” Currently, only three countries – Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan – are considered endemic for polio. Continue reading →

The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: American Archives Month

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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!”

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The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: The Microbe Hunter

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By Jeff O’Flynn, Sabin Project Student Assistant

[Sabin Archivist’s Note: This week features the first blog post on the Sabin project from Jeff O’Flynn, one of our new student assistants. Jeff is pursuing a doctoral degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He will be blogging on different Sabin-related topics as we work on the project. Please give Jeff a warm welcome by reading his posts! -SB]

The first assignment I handled when I started at the Sabin Archive nearly a month ago was to inventory a recent acquisition. Mrs. Sabin and her son sent us another large shipment of documents, photographs, awards, videos, and almost everything else imaginable. Sifting through these items served as my introduction to Albert B. Sabin’s life and legacy. This donation offered insight mainly into his later years and his posthumous honors with nearly all the items dating from 1970 forward. I learned many interesting things as I sorted through hundreds of fascinating items and I will share some of the most memorable items on this blog. First, I want to highlight an essay Dr. Sabin wrote in 1992 as an introduction to Paul de Kruif’s “Microbe Hunters” which influenced his life greatly. Continue reading →

The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: The Personal Side of Dr. Sabin

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By Richard Jason Sookoor, Sabin Project Student Assistant

Dr. and Mrs. Sabin feeding deer at a temple in Japan.

I’ve been working with the Sabin Archives for a little over three months now and am still somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of material Dr. Sabin accumulated during his long career. So when we recently received a shipment of even more materials from Mrs. Sabin and her son, I was rather surprised. Not simply because there were items we didn’t have – because judging by where we store our archival collections, it seems we have everything Dr. Sabin ever touched – but because of the amount we received. Looking over the boxes, it’s hard to imagine how one person could amass this amount of materials. Dr. Sabin kept himself quite busy, it seems. Continue reading →

The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: The Evolution of Facial Hair

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By Mary Kroeger Vuyk, Sabin Project Student Assistant

[Sabin Archivist’s Note: This week features the first blog post on the Sabin project from Mary Kroeger Vuyk, one of our new student assistants. Mary is pursuing a Master of Library Science degree from Clarion University. Previously she has worked in the Winkler Center as an intern, processing the UC Public Relations Collection. She will be blogging on different Sabin-related topics as we work on the project. Please give Mary a warm welcome by reading her posts! -SB]

While rearranging several photos albums as part of the Albert B. Sabin digitization project, I ran across the Certificate of Citizenship for a very young Albert Sabin. This certificate reveals that the 23 year old Albert Sabin gained United States Citizenship on April 15, 1930.[1] While the certificate shows other important information about Dr. Sabin, such his height, weight, address, and marital status at the time of naturalization, a photo on the certificate also reveals another interesting detail – Albert Sabin was into facial hair. But, as I continued to look through the photos, I realized that as Dr. Sabin changed, so did his whiskers. Continue reading →

Dr. H. J. Heimlich Project: Working with Neil Armstrong

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Neil Armstrong’s recent death has brought him and his work back into the spotlight once again. Much attention is rightfully paid to his great accomplishments as an astronaut, especially the Apollo program and his walk on the moon. He has been called an “American Hero” more times than anyone count but despite all of that grandeur, in his own mind Armstrong remained “…a white-socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer, born under the second law of thermodynamics, steeped in steam tables, in love with free-body diagrams, transformed by Laplace and propelled by compressible flow”. 1

The HARP Group: Neil Armstrong, George Rieveschl, Henry Heimlich and Edward Patrick.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Grace

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The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: The Case of William Brebner

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A 1969 letter from Professor Ernest Borek to Dr. Albert Sabin, which is quoted below.

Throughout the redaction process, I have been asked by many people how we select what should be removed from letters and other documents prior to publication of the materials online. It’s quite a complicated process! A way to approach this question is to discuss things we typically would not remove from letters. One illustration of this concept is through the case of Dr. Sabin’s colleague, Dr. William Brebner.

First, a bit of explanation, just in case you are unfamiliar with the Sabin project. As an archivist, it is part of my “Code of Ethics” to follow principles of “Access and Use” and “Privacy.”[1] Because of the nature of the materials within Sabin project, these principles can come into conflict with each other. Continue reading →

The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: A Look at Local Commemorations

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By Richard Jason Sookoor, Sabin Student Assistant

Dr. Sabin receiving the award for Outstanding Cincinnatian in 1963.

This is the last week of August and thus marks the finale of our Awards and Honors series. For our final post, we will take a look at how the Cincinnati community has honored Dr. Sabin. For roughly thirty years, Dr. Sabin resided in Cincinnati and continued research at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital while occasionally teaching at the University of Cincinnati. During this time, he also participated in local community affairs and was often honored for his accomplishments. Continue reading →