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FDR-Salk event set for April 12

April 12 marks the anniversary of two life-changing events in world history: the day that President F.D. Roosevelt died in 1945 and the 1955 announcement of the Salk vaccine's ability to prevent polio.

In recognition of these two events, Dr. Hamid Jafari, Director of the Centers for Disease Control's Global Immunization Division, will speak at Roosevelt's Little White House Historic Site during its annual ceremony commemorating the president's death. The April 12 program begins at 2 p.m. and includes music from the Ft. Benning Infantry Center Band and United States Marine Corps color guard. Admission is free after 12:30 p.m.

Stricken with polio in 1921, FDR came to Georgia seeking therapy in the naturally warm spring waters. After being elected President of the United States in 1932, he continued to visit his Warm Springs home, befriending many other polio patients and his rural neighbors. In 1938 FDR established the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which later became known as the March of Dimes and funded Dr. Jonas Salk's polio virus research. On April 12, 1945, the president suffered a stroke while having his portrait painted at his middle Georgia home. Ten years later to the very day, the Salk vaccine was announced as "safe and effective."

A few years ago, most public health officials hoped that polio was on the verge of being eradicated from the globe. However, the crippling disease appears to be making a comeback in parts of Africa due to a lack of education and funding.

"Global polio eradication will be a fitting legacy of President Roosevelt and Dr. Salk, two extraordinary men whose efforts were so vital to the development of a polio vaccine," said Dr. Jafari.

During last year's April 12 event, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources unveiled its new 11,000-square-foot museum honoring President F.D. Roosevelt. Nestled into the wooded estate that is the Little White House State Historic Site, the museum chronicles Roosevelt's life, his personal struggle with polio, his role in America's recovery from the Great Depression, and his leadership during World War II. Key exhibits include his hand-controlled 1938 Ford convertible, "Fireside Chats" playing on a 1930s radio, FDR's stagecoach used during parades, a film narrated by Walter Cronkite, and the naturally warm spring water that first brought Roosevelt to Georgia. Visitors can tour FDR's charming cottage, the guest house and servants' quarters left much as they were the day he suffered a stroke while posing for the "Unfinished Portrait" now displayed in the museum. Just one mile from the museum is the historic pools complex where Roosevelt and other polio patients swam for therapy.

The Little White House draws more than 110,000 visitors annually, more than any other Georgia state historic site. It is located just mile south of Warm Springs on Hwy. 85-Alt-Hwy. 27 Alt. For more information and a calendar of events, visit www.fdr-littlewhitehouse.org or call 706-655-5870.