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‘Salk Hops’: Teen health activism and the fight against polio, 1955 - 1960

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Peer-reviewed

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Article

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Abstract

In the late 1950s, a health charity, known as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (March of Dimes), organized American teens into volunteer divisions to fight polio, as well as tame adult anxieties surrounding juvenile delinquency. The alliance that developed permitted the NFIP to increase its influence and revenue, while granting teens an opportunity to assert their cultural power and challenge negative stereotypes. Although the NFIP nurtured and at times dominated the relationship, young volunteers joined for their own reasons and shaped the program to suit their own aspirations and interests.

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Keywords

4303 Historical Studies, 43 History, Heritage and Archaeology, 3 Good Health and Well Being

Journal Title

Cultural and Social History

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Journal ISSN

1478-0038
1478-0046

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Publisher

Informa UK Limited
Sponsorship
This work was supported by Clare Hall, and the UK Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme., the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, the Government of Alberta, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada