The March of Dimes: How FDR's Campaign Funded the Polio Vaccine
How Did the March of Dimes Fund the Polio Vaccine That Changed History?
The March of Dimes, launched by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, mobilized millions of Americans to mail dimes to the White House, ultimately funding the research that led to Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine. This grassroots campaign raised the money that bought iron lungs, built treatment centers, and bankrolled the scientists who ended the polio epidemic.