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 →

Throughout his career, Dr. Sabin was featured in many headlines and articles. Many of his friends and colleagues sent him copies of these newspaper clippings over the years, which Dr. Sabin saved. I wanted to highlight some of them here, in order to give you some perspective as to what he was involved in over the years.

This article on the swine flu vaccine appeared in The News and Courier, July 21, 1976.

Continue reading →

Being both a well-known scientist and a world traveler, Dr. Sabin’s collection of correspondence reflects many different parts of the world with letters in Russian, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, and more. As we move into the next phase of the Sabin digitization project, I will begin to look at the correspondence more closely, determining the important messages within each letter and assigning descriptive data (also known as metadata) to the letters so researchers can more easily search the material. In order to do this, I may need some help with those letters in foreign languages.

Here’s a recent example of a letter in a foreign language, as well as its background:

Letter from Dr. Hallauer to Dr. Sabin, 1957

Continue reading →

Dr. Sabin and Prime Minister Golda Meir at his inauguration as President, 1970

After Dr. Sabin’s long career at the University of Cincinnati and the Children’s Hospital Research Foundation, he became the President of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, from 1970 until 1972. His archives contain much of his correspondence and photographs from his time at the Institute.

According to the Weizmann Institute of Science’s website, Dr. Sabin was the first President of the Institute that was required to be a scientist. While serving as President, Dr. Sabin reorganized the Institute into “five scientific Faculties”: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biophysics-Biochemistry, and Biology. While serving as President, Dr. Sabin rubbed elbows with some pretty important people, so I wanted to share some of these photographs with you. Continue reading →

A post from a couple weeks ago where I mention the renaming of the road outside of our building to Albert Sabin Way made me think of other places that have Dr. Sabin’s name. I thought I would briefly touch on some of the places that are named after him.

Sculpture in honor of Dr. Sabin, given by the Rotary Club of Cincinnati, 2001

One very close to where the Winkler Center is located is the Albert B. Sabin Education and Conference Center, which is located on the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center’s Main Campus. In 1999, the medical center announced the naming of the building after Dr. Sabin. The building opened in 2000 as part of a large renovation program for the campus. According to the hospital’s website, this Center contains meeting space, the hospital’s libraries, a cafeteria, and many hospital services. At the time of the announcement of the naming, a press release stated, “In naming our center for Dr. Sabin, we hope to inspire all of those we teach to follow his example.” Continue reading →

The Hauck Center for the Albert B. Sabin Archives contains 14.5 linear feet (29 boxes) dedicated to Dr. Sabin’s work as a civilian consultant with the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board from 1941 to 1943 and again from 1946 to 1969.

Dr. Sabin to Colonel James Simmons, 1941

From 1943 to 45, Dr. Sabin served on active duty with the Medical Corps, first as a Major and later as Lieutenant Colonel. He researched such diseases as dengue, sandfly fever, Japanese B and St. Louis encephalitis, and other neurotropic viral infections as part of the military’s effort to reduce non combat-injury related illnesses and deaths. He helped to develop the St. Louis and Japanese B encephalitis and dengue vaccines. His service, both as a civilian and while on active duty, took him to many places across the world and allowed him to interact with many great scientific minds. Continue reading →

Trip to Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil, 1991

Dr. Sabin’s oral polio vaccine has helped millions of children since its first public distribution many years ago. Besides the numerous awards and accolades that Dr. Sabin received for his work, he traveled around the world and advised others on how to implement a vaccination program. Along the way, Dr. Sabin was greeted by crowds, including many children, who expressed their appreciation for his work. The photos seen here are only a couple of the photos we have in our collection from his visits around the world. Continue reading →