During the first half of the 20th century, polio afflicted between 13,000 to 20,000 people per year in the United States, according to the American West Center at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. The disease struck mostly young people-male and female, wealthy and poor, and of all races.
In an effort to document the social and cultural history of polio-especially the course, treatment, and long-term outcomes of polio survivors-the American West Center is developing an oral-history record of polio survivors and clinicians who treated polio. The materials gathered will be made available to clinicians, researchers, and the general public through the special collections department of the university’s Marriott Library.
“This is a timely project,” the center’s director, Matthew Basso, PhD, said. “Typical polio survivors are now reaching their 60s and 70s. It’s important to record this information while we still can.”
For more information about this project, call 801.581.7611 or e-mail becky.lloyd@awc.utah.edu
