On This Day in Health: January 3, 1938
In the winter of 1938, the United States was living with a recurring fear: the approach of polio season. Each year, outbreaks closed swimming pools, emptied playgrounds, and left thousands of children paralyzed or using assistive devices. On January 3, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, himself paralyzed from polio, formally created the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. The foundation, later known as the March of Dimes, was designed to coordinate and fund research, treatment, and rehabilitation on a scale that local charities and hospitals could not manage alone. It centralized efforts against polio at a time when the disease was one of the most feared public health threats in the country.
What made the new foundation distinctive was its financing model. Instead of relying on a few wealthy donors, it invited small contributions from millions of ordinary Americans. Celebrity radio appeals urged listeners to mail dimes and dollars to the White House, leading to a flood of envelopes filled with coins. This “grassroots philanthropy” broadened public ownership of the fight against polio and created a stable source of funds for scientific grants, patient care, and equipment such as improved ventilators and rehabilitation centers. The approach helped democratize health fundraising and became a template for later disease-focused charities.
Within a few years, the foundation had become a major patron of virology and epidemiology. It supported work in basic poliovirus biology as well as large-scale field trials to test potential vaccines. Grants to researchers including Jonas Salk underwrote the development and evaluation of the inactivated polio vaccine, and subsequent funding supported further work on oral vaccines. When effective vaccines were introduced in the mid-1950s and early 1960s, polio incidence in the United States dropped rapidly, illustrating how coordinated investment in research and public vaccination campaigns could reshape the landscape of infectious disease.
As polio receded, the organization did not disband; instead, it redirected its infrastructure and expertise toward broader issues in maternal and child health. It expanded its mission to prevention of birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality, supporting clinical innovations such as neonatal intensive care units and newborn screening programs, as well as public education on healthy pregnancy. Today, under the March of Dimes name, the foundation continues to fund research, advocacy, and community programs aimed at improving outcomes for mothers and babies, reflecting an evolution from single-disease campaign to a wider public health role while still rooted in the initiative launched on January 3, 1938.
By the late 1930s, polio was one of the most feared diseases in the United States. Seasonal outbreaks closed pools and playgrounds, and many families knew someone who had been paralyzed or killed by the virus. Medical science still lacked a vaccine or cure, and efforts to support patients and fund research were scattered across local charities and hospital drives.
On January 3, 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, himself paralyzed by polio, helped launch the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, the organization that would soon become known as the March of Dimes. The new foundation was created to coordinate research, treatment, and rehabilitation on a national scale, bringing together scientists, doctors, and communities in a more organized fight against polio.
The foundation’s first major impact was financial and organizational. Through nationwide fundraising drives that asked ordinary Americans to send in small donations—often dimes—the organization created a steady stream of support for hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and families affected by polio. It also began issuing grants to scientists studying the virus, helping to professionalize and expand polio research.
At the same time, its limits were clear. Polio did not disappear overnight; large outbreaks continued for years, and the foundation could not yet offer a definitive medical solution. Its work centered on improving care, providing equipment such as braces and wheelchairs, and building networks of clinics and treatment centers, while the search for an effective vaccine continued in laboratories it helped fund.
Over the next two decades, the foundation became a major engine of scientific progress. It supported research that led to the development and large-scale testing of polio vaccines, including the inactivated vaccine introduced in the mid-1950s. As vaccination campaigns spread, polio cases in the United States fell sharply, illustrating how concentrated funding and public engagement could change the course of a disease.
When polio was largely brought under control, the organization did not dissolve. Instead, it shifted its focus toward broader maternal and child health concerns, including birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. In this way, the initiative launched on January 3, 1938, evolved from a single-disease campaign into a lasting institution in American public health, influencing how the country thinks about fundraising, research, and national responses to health threats.
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