Polio and vaccination

In the chronology

Events in this storyline, in date order. See these 29 dated events in the chronology →

1. by September 28, 1916 Chapel Hill quarantines a case of infantile paralysis In September 1916 a three-year-old Chapel Hill child came down with infantile paralysis. The town authorities and physicians set a quarantine and kept everyone exposed at home, and the News reported that the doctors expected no outbreak.Search the index · The News (Chapel Hill), September 28, 1916, p. 1
2. by June 21, 1935 Chapel Hill bars young children from swimming pools as infantile paralysis spreads With infantile paralysis spreading in eastern North Carolina, health officer S. A. Nathan and University physician W. R. Berryhill had signs posted at Sparrow's and Hogan's pools and the University Lake pool barring children under 15. Parents were asked to keep small children from the movies, and Sunday school classes for small children were dropped. No case had yet appeared in Orange County. People: S. A. Nathan, W. Reece Berryhill, Clyde EubanksThe Chapel Hill Weekly, June 21, 1935, p. 1
3. July 1, 1935 The Orange County Board of Health asks that public gatherings stop during the infantile paralysis epidemic Meeting in Hillsboro, the county board of health resolved that picnics, homecomings, camp meetings and other gatherings drawing people from outside a community be discontinued while the epidemic lasted, and had the resolution posted at post offices. It left closing churches and theatres to each community and announced a county campaign against typhoid. People: R. H. ClaytorThe Chapel Hill Weekly, July 5, 1935, p. 3
4. July 18, 1935 Infantile paralysis strikes children in Carrboro and Chapel Hill Two Black children in Carrboro came down with infantile paralysis on July 18, a Chapel Hill boy on July 23 and another Black child in Carrboro on July 27, and their families were quarantined. Fearing the epidemic, the University summer session called off gatherings open to visitors, and Black congregations in Carrboro called off a Sunday school convention and a revival. People: S. A. NathanThe Chapel Hill Weekly, August 2, 1935, p. 1
5. September 2, 1935 County board of health postpones the Chapel Hill school opening for infantile paralysis After two new cases at the end of August, one of them a three-year-old Carrboro boy who died on August 31, the Orange County board of health ordered the Chapel Hill school to open on September 23 instead of September 16. At the same meeting it let its two physician members quarantine a contagious disease in an emergency until the county quarantine officer could act. People: Charles Staples MangumThe Chapel Hill Weekly, September 6, 1935, p. 1
6. by August 27, 1943 The Orange County polio chapter reports $1,090 from the March of Dimes Dr. William P. Richardson, chairman of the county chapter of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, reported $1,090 kept from the winter's March of Dimes and President's Birthday celebration, with an equal sum sent to the national office. Local money paid for a monthly crippled children's clinic in Chapel Hill and braces and shoes for patients, with a reserve held against an epidemic. People: William P. Richardson, Vic HugginsThe Chapel Hill Weekly, August 27, 1943, p. 2
7. by February 10, 1944 Orange County nearly doubles its 1944 infantile paralysis quota Orange County raised $2,080.50 in the 1944 infantile paralysis campaign against a quota of $1,100, by an incomplete report from state campaign secretary Mrs. Phillips Russell of Chapel Hill. Theatres collected $1,015.71, the President's Birthday Ball given by the Navy Pre-Flight School at Chapel Hill brought $978.77, and the county schools gave $86.07; the Rev. Charles M. Jones led the county drive. People: Charles M. JonesThe News (Chapel Hill), February 10, 1944, p. 4
8. July 19, 1944 A young Orange County munitions worker dies of polio as the 1944 epidemic spreads A 24-year-old munitions plant worker from a farm in the southern part of the county fell ill on July 18, 1944, and died of poliomyelitis the next morning at Watts Hospital in Durham, the second polio case reported in Orange County that year. At the health department's request his family held a private funeral; earlier in July District Health Officer William P. Richardson had urged parents to keep children away from crowds. People: William P. RichardsonThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 27, 1944, p. 1
9. August–September 1944 Orange County schools stay closed until after September 18 during the polio epidemic On the recommendation of the State Health Officer and Governor Broughton, the State Board of Education kept all North Carolina public schools closed until after September 18 because of the infantile paralysis epidemic. Orange County schools, which Superintendent R. H. Claytor had planned to open September 14, were held back with the rest, though teachers still reported on September 14. People: R. H. ClaytorThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 24, 1944, p. 1 ("Schools to Remain Closed Until After September 18 Due to Polio")
10. January 15 to 30, 1947 (total reported March 6) Orange County's March of Dimes raises nearly $5,000, well past its goal The county's 1947 polio fund drive, led by E. Carrington Smith of Chapel Hill and Bonner D. Sawyer of Hillsboro with the help of the schools, collected $4,991.81 against a goal of $3,500. The county polio chapter reported that in the past year it had spent $500 on direct aid and promised hospitals it would guarantee costs so polio patients could be admitted without delay. People: R. H. Claytor, Bonner D. Sawyer, E. Carrington SmithThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 6, 1947, p. 1
11. March 1947 Orange County polio chapter reports buying an infant-size iron lung In its annual report, the Orange County chapter of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis said it had spent $500 in direct aid to polio patients and bought a $550 infant-size iron lung, kept for the time being at Watts Hospital.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 20, 1947, p. 1 ("Polio Group's Achievements Outstanding")
12. late June 1948 Orange County reports its first polio case of 1948, in Victory Village In the last week of June 1948 a woman living in the university's Victory Village in Chapel Hill became Orange County's first polio case of the year, as an epidemic centered in Greensboro spread across the Piedmont. The state office of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis said the single case was no sign of a local epidemic.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 1, 1948, p. 1