March of Dimes begins
The March of Dimes began in the early 1930s as a response to the polio epidemic that severely affected many Americans, particularly children. Initially rooted in the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation, established by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Basil O'Connor, the organization aimed to provide therapy for polio patients. In 1938, it evolved into the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, focusing on patient care and the pursuit of a polio cure. The fund-raising efforts gained momentum under the guidance of public-relations specialist Carl Robert Byoir, culminating in a nationwide campaign dubbed the "March of Dimes," inspired by a call to action from entertainer Eddie Cantor. This campaign not only raised significant funds but also engaged numerous celebrities, fostering a community-oriented approach to philanthropy. The foundation played a crucial role in vaccine development, leading to the eradication of polio in the United States. In 1958, the organization shifted its focus to preventing premature births, birth defects, and infant mortality, officially adopting the name March of Dimes in 1979. Through its innovative fund-raising strategies and commitment to public health, the March of Dimes has significantly impacted child health outcomes across the nation.
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March of Dimes begins
Identification Charitable organization
Date Established January 3, 1938
Also known as National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis
The March of Dimes was the name of the fund-raising activity of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. It became one of the most successful fund-raising campaigns of the first half of the twentieth century and directly led to the development of effective polio vaccines in 1955 and the eventual eradication of polio from the United States in 1979.
In 1921, thirty-year-old Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with polio. Later in the decade, Roosevelt and his law partner, Basil O’Connor, purchased a resort in Warm Springs, Georgia, and converted it into a facility to provide therapy and care for polio patients. O’Connor and Roosevelt eventually turned the resort into a nonprofit foundation, the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation. In 1938, President Roosevelt formed the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis to replace the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation. The mission of the foundation was to care for polio patients and to find an effective treatment, cure, and vaccine.
The Depression had a severe impact on the fund-raising activities of the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation, reducing the money that potential donors had for charitable giving. Therefore, in 1933, the foundation hired Carl Robert Byoir, a public-relations pioneer, to run its advertising and fund-raising campaigns. The first venture was a nationwide birthday fund-raiser campaign for President Roosevelt. More than six thousand parties were held on January 29, 1934, and more than one million dollars was raised.
Hollywood celebrity Eddie Cantor was a strong supporter of the foundation and referred to its fund-raising campaign as the March of Dimes after the newsreel The March of Time. Cantor used his radio program to launch the fund-raising effort by asking everyone to send a dime to the White House to help fight the disease. Soon many other Hollywood, theater, sports, and political celebrities joined Cantor’s campaign. For several years, the primary fund-raising activities were the annual parties and balls held on or for President Roosevelt’s birthday. At each year’s event, a child was chosen to symbolize polio survivors. The child’s photograph was placed on a poster promoting the March of Dimes campaign. The aggressive and visible March of Dimes campaign revolutionized fund-raising.
In 1938, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis formed a committee on scientific research. Priorities were reordered to focus on the basic biology of the polio virus. Later, the foundation distributed moneys to various vaccine research programs, which eventually led to the development of the Jonas Salk and Albert Bruce Sabin vaccines and the later eradication of polio from the United States. Foundation moneys were also expended to develop and distribute the tank respirator, also known as the iron lung, a machine that aided the breathing of polio victims whose respiratory muscles were affected. Mass distribution of the iron lung began in 1939.
Rather than end its fund-raising efforts after the development of the polio vaccines, in 1958, the March of Dimes refocused its attention on the prevention of premature births, birth defects, and infant mortality. The name of the foundation was officially changed to the March of Dimes in 1979.
Impact
Polio was one of the most devastating and feared diseases to affect the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, when more than one-half million people, primarily children, were stricken. The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis’s March of Dimes campaign revolutionized fund-raising and directly led to the development of effective vaccines in the mid-1950’s.
Bibliography
Oshinsky, David M. Polio, an American Story. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Silver, Julie K., and Daniel Wilson. Polio Voices: An Oral History from the American Polio Epidemics and Worldwide Eradication Efforts. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2007.
Wilson, Daniel J. Polio. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood Press/ABC-CLIO, 2009.