National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis

National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis
Name	National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis
Founded	1938
Founder	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Headquarters	United States
Dissolved	1979 (became March of Dimes)
Purpose	Funding poliomyelitis research and patient care

Contents

National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis was a United States nonprofit organization created to combat poliomyelitis through fundraising, research, and patient services, established by Franklin D. Roosevelt with support from figures such as Eleanor Roosevelt and industrialists including Thomas J. Watson and Henry Ford. The foundation became widely known for the annual March of Dimes campaign and for supporting scientists like Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin, operating amid public health crises involving institutions such as the United States Public Health Service and collaborating with entities like the Rockefeller Foundation and National Institutes of Health.

History

The foundation was launched at a 1938 ceremony attended by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, and leaders from American Red Cross, Salvation Army, and corporate donors including General Motors and AT&T; early governance drew on networks linking New Deal policymakers, Works Progress Administration officials, and philanthropic families like the Rockefeller family. During the 1940s and 1950s the organization operated during wartime mobilizations involving World War II logistics and postwar public health expansions influenced by decisions from the Truman administration and collaborations with laboratories such as those at Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, and University of Michigan. The 1950s vaccine trials and subsequent mass immunization campaigns intersected with legal and policy frameworks exemplified by cases in United States Supreme Court litigation and legislative actions in the United States Congress, leading to organizational transformations into the modern March of Dimes entity by the late 1960s and formal rebranding in 1979.

The foundation’s mission combined fundraising, clinical care, and scientific support, coordinating programs that linked March of Dimes local chapters with hospitals such as Mayo Clinic, rehabilitation centers like Shriners Hospitals for Children, and academic centers including Harvard Medical School and University of Pennsylvania. It funded fellowships and grants modeled after awards from the Guggenheim Foundation and grantmaking practices seen at the Carnegie Corporation, enabling researchers at institutions such as Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Rockefeller University, and Stanford University to pursue poliovirus studies, virology training, and epidemiological surveillance in partnership with agencies like Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization. Community programs integrated patient support services coordinated with municipal health departments in cities such as New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles and advocacy initiatives in state capitols including Albany, New York, Sacramento, California, and Austin, Texas.

Fundraising campaigns used celebrity endorsements from entertainers such as Ed Sullivan, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, and athletes like Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio, combining grassroots appeals with national radio events featuring networks like NBC, CBS, and ABC. Annual drives mobilized volunteers drawn from organizations including Kiwanis International, Rotary International, and American Legion, leveraging merchandising and mailing lists similar to strategies used by United Way and the Red Cross. Innovative fundraising tactics paralleled campaigns by the Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of the USA, while high-profile donors and trustees from General Electric, DuPont, Walmart (S. S. Truslow era), and financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase provided corporate sponsorships and matching gifts that scaled grantmaking for vaccine development, clinical trials at sites like University of Pittsburgh and community clinics in regions affected in outbreaks documented in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

The foundation financed foundational research in virology and immunology that supported landmark work by Jonas Salk on an inactivated poliovirus vaccine and by Albert Sabin on an oral live-attenuated vaccine, coordinating large-scale field trials akin to later multicenter studies at institutions such as University of Michigan, University of Pittsburgh, and University of Cincinnati. It awarded grants to laboratories at Rockefeller University, Columbia University, and Yale University and sponsored epidemiological studies alongside Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization surveillance programs; those efforts informed vaccine policy adopted by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and national immunization programs in countries coordinated with United Nations Children's Fund efforts. The foundation also supported development of orthotic devices and rehabilitation practices introduced in clinics like Mayo Clinic and by practitioners trained at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, influencing standards adopted by professional societies including the American Academy of Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Governance combined philanthropic trustees, medical advisory boards, and fundraising committees, with leaders from political, business, and scientific spheres such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, advisers from Eleanor Roosevelt’s networks, corporate executives from General Motors and AT&T, and medical consultants from Johns Hopkins University, Harvard Medical School, and Columbia University. The advisory structure resembled mechanisms used by institutions like National Institutes of Health review panels and incorporated committees for grants, research, and public affairs similar to those at the Rockefeller Foundation and Gates Foundation; operational headquarters coordinated with state-level chapters in jurisdictions such as New York (state), California, and Texas. Key relationships included collaborations with National Academy of Sciences, legal counsel interactions with firms tied to major law practices in New York City and fundraising partnerships modeled on strategies used by United Way and American Red Cross.

The foundation’s legacy includes accelerating vaccine development that contributed to near-eradication efforts led by World Health Organization and United States Agency for International Development, reshaping global immunization campaigns with programs influenced by Expanded Programme on Immunization policies and informing later public health philanthropy by organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Its model for combining celebrity-led fundraising, scientific grantmaking, and patient services influenced nonprofit public health responses to diseases addressed by entities like American Cancer Society, March of Dimes successor organizations, and international initiatives coordinated by United Nations agencies; the institutional memory persists in archives at repositories including Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, and university special collections at Harvard University and Columbia University.

Category:Medical and health foundations