Transylvanians Organize in the Fight Against Polio, Part I

This article is the first in a two-part “Picturing the Past” series on Transylvania County’s fight against polio in the first half of the 20^th century.  

During the mid-twentieth century, March of Dimes fundraisers were a regular occurrence in every community, large and small, throughout the United States.  This charity’s strategy was to collect small change to fund research to prevent or cure the dreaded polio virus.  In Transylvania County, local businesses joined together with schools, clubs, and social organizations to support these fundraising efforts. 

 

Mother's March on Polio ad from The Transylvania Times, February 1, 1951

One creative fundraiser held every year was the Mother’s March on Polio.  Women from all over the county would go door to door in the early evening collecting donations.  Various churches and organizations participated including the Dunn’s Rock Club.  Churches and summer camps rang their bells to signal the beginning of the march.  All residents were encouraged to light up their homes to indicate they wanted to make a donation.   

Dunn’s Rock Mother’s March on Polio Committee, January 28, 1955

These fundraisers were important in a world desperate to find a cure for polio, a disease whose primary target is children. Sporadic polio outbreaks were frequent throughout the first half of the twentieth century.  Images of afflicted children using crutches, in wheelchairs, and inside iron lung machines were common in the media.   

Polio, the common name for the poliomyelitis virus, affects the central nervous system.  It spreads through contact with fecal matter or droplets emitted during talking, coughing, and sneezing. Similar to Covid-19, most individuals who contract polio are asymptomatic and can infect others. A small number have symptoms that include fever, headaches, and muscle stiffness, while a tragic few are permanently paralyzed or even die.    

 

The virus thrived during the summer, known as polio season.  Health officials recommended parents quarantine their children at home or to practice a form of social distancing we know so well today.   Swimming pools and beaches were often closed.  Summer camps, picnics, bowling alleys, movie theaters, restaurants, and church, any place people gathered in crowds, were all to be avoided by children. Fall and winter was not as dangerous, but rare winter outbreaks could occur. 

 

North Carolina experienced devastating polio pandemics between 1930 and 1955.  The closest treatment center for people in the western mountain counties was Charlotte Memorial Hospital’s polio ward. Due to the need for more facilities, the city of Hickory actually constructed a polio center in three days in 1944 by remodeling a summer camp, a feat that caused Life Magazine to do a photo story.   

 

In Transylvania County, polio was often on people’s minds.  Summer camps lost business whenever there was a polio scare.  In 1939, visitors from polio-affected areas in Georgia and South Carolina were forced to quarantine for two weeks if they entered the county.  Schools closed during some outbreaks.  Polio cases in the community caused Ecusta to cancel its Christmas children’s party in 1946, some baseball games, and its annual Sapphire picnic in 1948.  The personal columns in the Transylvania Times often listed children who were sick or recovering from polio.  One local mentioned how strange it was to sit in church without any children.  

 

Next week's “Picturing the Past” will recount how Transylvania’s health officials carried out the first mass vaccination of our county’s first and second grade children. 

 

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. This article was written by Joe Russo. For more information, comments, or suggestions contact NC Room staff at ncroom@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820.