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History chat to address FDR’s impact on polio research

January 2, 2026
This is a rare portrait photograph of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his wheelchair. He is sitting on the porch at Top Cottage in Hyde Park, N.Y. His granddaughter Ruthie Roosevelt stands next to him and Fala, his pet dog, rests in his lap. Fala, a Scottish Terrier, was a gift to President Roosevelt from his cousin Margaret “Daisy” Suckley, who snapped this picture. SOURCE: WHITEHOUSEHISTORY.ORG

Historian Paul Sparrow will be joined by scientist Fred Dylla for “FDR, Polio, and a Victory for Vaccines” at 5 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 11, in the fireplace area at the Lewes Public Library, 111 Adams Ave., Lewes. The event will also stream live via Zoom.

In the United States from 1900 until 1954, an estimated 15,000 people were paralyzed by polio each year, including Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who contracted the disease in 1921 at the age of 39 and was paralyzed from the waist down. Roosevelt later devoted a significant portion of his fortune to establishing a polio rehabilitation clinic and a private foundation to support research, which became known as the March of Dimes. Some 10 years after Roosevelt’s death, March of Dimes-funded research by Jonas Salk led to the development of a polio vaccine that has essentially eliminated the disease. 

Sparrow is former director of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum. Dylla is executive director emeritus of the American Institute of Physics.

Seating is limited, and registration is required. At registration, participants will be asked to select in-person or online attendance. To register, go to lewes.lib.de.us or call 302-645-2733.

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