1944: National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis sends emergency aid to Hickory, North Carolina to halt a severe polio epidemic, building an emergency polio hospital in two days. This successful intervention is publicized as “The Miracle of Hickory.”

p. 24, #30 THE MIRACLE OF HICKORY, 1944. Within a matter of weeks, the National Foundation Catawba County Chapter coordinated a relief effort in Hickory to bring swift medical action to the afflicted 6 region. Within a matter of days a functioning emergency hospital was erected and equipped. The foundation touted the story – The Miracle of Hickory – as a model of successful epidemic response. Here, Dr. Dorothy Horstmann of Yale University Medical School, a grantee of the National Foundation, draws a blood sample.

p. 25, #31 EMERGENCY INFANTILE PARALYSIS HOSPITAL, 1944. This is an interior view of a small laboratory installed at the Emergency Infantile Paralysis Hospital at Hickory. By November the National Foundation had sent nearly $400,000 in emergency aid – March of Dimes funds – to North Carolina. While epidemic response in Hickory seemed nothing short of miraculous, with 68 per cent of patients fully recovered, the National Foundation would be challenged continually in the coming years with similar scenarios across the country.

Caption: Black and white children in temporary emergency hospital built by March of Dimes. Hickory, North Carolina. 1944