The polio years in Harris and Galveston counties, 1930--1962

The polio experience in Harris and Galveston Counties, Texas was unique. From the initial rise of polio incidence in the 1920s until the Sabin vaccination campaigns of the 1960s, several extraordinary factors existed in this region that influenced the care, treatment, and eradication of this disease. This dissertation explores the development and impact of medical institutions, research initiatives, and polio fundraising efforts in Harris and Galveston Counties, Texas and how these entities influenced the lives of polio patients in Texas and elsewhere.;The investigation of the polio years in Southeast Texas bears significance on several levels. The first involves the exceptionally high rate of polio incidence in this region. More importantly, the polio experience in Harris and Galveston Counties mirrors the highly influential effects of this disease in the field of medicine. Polio epidemics in America hastened the development of rehabilitation medicine, created the modern intensive care unit, and stimulated a series of discoveries that transformed the field of virology. These medical legacies were created in part by the outstanding contributions of Southeast Texas physicians, researchers, philanthropic organizations, and the general public. Finally, the local and national responses to polio epidemics provide insight in dealing with future epidemics, such as AILS and the avian flu. Lessons still being learned from the polio experience in America include the difficulties in complete eradication, long-term symtomalogy and cumulative effects, and public overconfidence in science to address emerging illnesses and the threat of bioterror.;This dissertation employs both the standard and oral traditions of historical research. Primary and secondary documentation has included manuscript collections, medical texts, newspaper accounts, government reports, and published works by historians. While this historical account is regional in nature, data collection included a multi-state search. Research efforts included visits to the March of Dimes National Archives, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library, the Texas Department of Health Archives, the John P. McGovern History of Medicine Collections at the Texas Medical Center, and the Truman G. Blocker, Jr. History of Medicine Collections at the Moody Medical Library. Incorporated into the chapters of this dissertation are excerpts of poignant oral history interviews.