‘Salk Hops’: Teen health activism and the fight against polio, 1955 - 1960
Accepted version
Peer-reviewed
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Repository DOI
Change log
Authors
Mawdsley, SE https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5662-8513
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.
Description
Keywords
4303 Historical Studies, 43 History, Heritage and Archaeology, 3 Good Health and Well Being
Journal Title
Cultural and Social History
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
1478-0038
1478-0046
1478-0046
Volume Title
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Publisher DOI
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