Blog #7 Research and Voice

My great-uncle Merril died this morning.  He was ninety-six.  He was a kind, intelligent man who was fascinated by history and loved to tell stories.  He was a teacher, not a mechanic or farmer like most of the men in my family from that generation.  He was a teacher, a less physically taxing profession, because he had polio.  The virus left him partially paralyzed on one side and having to wear leg and arm braces.

The 1952 polio outbreak was the worst in U.S. history killing 3,145 and leaving 21,269 with some level of paralysis.  Some were so severely paralyzed they had to be placed in an iron lung to help them breathe.  Polio primarily affects children and I can only imagine the fear parents must have felt during the summers when polio epidemics were most likely to occur.  There is evidence the disease has wreaked havoc for centuries, but thankfully it has become less and less common since the polio vaccine was developed in the 1950’s. 

Polio epidemics profoundly changed those who survived them.  They also changed U.S. culture.  The disease was well publicized during the epidemics of the 1950’s which sparked grassroots fund-raising campaigns similar to the breast cancer, multiple sclerosis, leukemia, and heart disease campaigns of today.  The scientists who contributed to finding the vaccine were venerated as heroes.   Polio survivors are one of the largest disabled groups in the world and have played a major role in the disability rights movement.  

I don’t know if my great-uncle Merril was ever formally involved in the disability rights movement, but he lived his life it such a way that I never considered him disabled.  He was passionate, enthusiastic, and interested in everything from politics to geology.  He was a loving husband, father of five, grandfather and great-grandfather.  He was a beloved teacher and a great story-teller.