Proud to have played a role in eradicating polio

The school gym at Kenwood Elementary School seemed strangely quiet. No basketball games, rope skipping, dodgeball contests or kids jumping on the trampoline.

Our gymnasium, at least for a short time, served as a giant medical clinic. We all lined up alphabetically and apprehensively, to let a nurse jab a needle in our arms.

Between April 26 and July 10 of 1954, 1.8 million first-grade through third-grade students in the United States, Canada and Finland participated in the groundbreaking Salk polio vaccine trials - the first to use the now-famous double-blind method of testing new vaccines.

I was one of those third-graders.

Fortunately, Dr. Jonas Salk developed a vaccine to stem this epidemic. Unfortunately, the vaccine required an experimental group to test its effectiveness.

The 1954 experiment, or field trial, involved more than 443,000 children throughout the United States who received at least one polio inoculation. Within the study, more than 210,000 children received a placebo, according to the March of Dimes. The findings allowed researchers to study the effects and effectiveness of the new vaccine.

The Cedar Rapids Gazette chronicled some of the activity concerning the test. In the April 29, 1954, edition, the paper reported, 'During the test nearly every doctor in the county will donate at least one morning of his time to administer the shots. '

Eventually, my parents learned that I got the 'real deal.” I don't know if they received a letter but I found out my fate through a newspaper article some weeks later. The news item listed all Cedar Rapids schools, and which individuals, by name and grade, received the new medicine. Other classmates, having received the placebo, had to repeat the whole process.

My efforts did not go without an acknowledgment and a thank-you. Many businesses in the community stepped forward to provide rewards for participation and completion of the series of three inoculations.

After the first shot, we received a certificate redeemable for one Coca-Cola and a sucker, a gift from the Cedar Rapids Exchange club. A balloon from Fetter Roofing and Paint Company and a sucker donated by Jack Hatt Services and the Skelly Oil Company came next. For taking all three shots, each child got a lollipop given by the Fanny Farmer Candy shop, an autographed picture of Gene Autry donated by the Home Town Dairy, a glider donated by the Nordstrom Oil Company.

I am glad that part of my life history includes helping to eradicate a disease like polio in the United States. This might not be the case without 'pioneers” like my classmates and me.

' Bob McDonnell, a writer and blogger, grew up in Cedar Rapids. He lives in Colorado. Comments: wordsbybob@gmail.com