The collection is freely and publicly available via the Albert  B. Sabin website at http://sabin.uc.edu/ and includes approximately 35,000 letters and accompanying documents totaling 50,000 pages of correspondence between Sabin and political, cultural, social, and scientific leaders around the world. Also included are nearly 1,000 photographs documenting the events and activities worldwide that were part of Sabin’s crusade to eradicate polio.

“This is what every biographer dreams of – so easy to use and complete,” said Charlotte Jacobs, MD, emerita professor of medicine at Stanford University and an accomplished biographer.

The project, funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, is a “We the People” initiative designed to encourage and strengthen the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture through the support of projects that explore significant events and themes in our nation’s history and culture and that advance knowledge of the principles that define America.

The Sabin digitized correspondence and photographs are of great relevance to the research efforts of historians, social and political scientists, ethicists, biomedical researchers, and physicians, as well as students and scholars worldwide. Marguerite Rose Jimenez, a postdoctoral fellow at American University researching Sabin and his polio eradication efforts in the Americas, commented, “[T]he archives just keep getting better and better! The search functions and  thoroughness of the searches generated is really amazing and so incredibly helpful! I’ve found all sorts of things using key search terms that I never  would have found searching through the documents as hard copies.”

The correspondence and photographs are part of the Hauck Center for the Albert B. Sabin Archives. Sabin’s wife, Heloisa, donated his papers, medals, and other artifacts to the University of Cincinnati upon his death in  1993. They reside in the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health  Professions where they have been organized and preserved with the support of the John Hauck Foundation.

In addition to providing easy access to the 50,000 pages of digitized correspondence and photos, the Albert B. Sabin website includes a biography and timeline of Sabin’s life and career, a section about the vaccination program referred to as “Sabin Sundays,” and information about the complete Sabin Collection, which encompasses 400 linear feet and consists of correspondence, laboratory notebooks, manuscripts, photographs, audio and video recordings, and other research papers generated by Sabin during his long and active medical career from 1930-1993. Also included on the website are lessons plans created to encourage high school teachers to use the Sabin digital collection in their classrooms.

For more on the Hauck Center for the Albert B. Sabin Archives and the digitization of the correspondence and photographs, contact the Winkler Center at (513) 558-5120 or by e-mail at chhp@uc.edu. In addition, a blog was kept by Stephanie Bricking, Sabin archivist, as she worked on the collection. The blog, available at www.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/topics/albert-b-sabin-archives/,  provides insight into Sabin’s life and accomplishments. Stephen Marine, UC Libraries’ associate dean for special collections and the project’s principle investigator, adds that the blog is also, “a gold mine of potential research topics for medical historians, historical epidemiologists, medical ethicists, historians of the Cold War, public health officials, and many others.”

Telegram from Hilary Koprowski to Albert Sabin, indicating he would be unable to attend a polio conference.

Hilary Koprowski is considered by many to be equally important as Salk and Sabin in the quest to eradicate poliomyelitis. When Koprowski passed away last month, his illustrious career was recounted in his obituary and included such notable achievements as the development of a live-virus polio vaccine, improvement of the rabies vaccine, and directorship of the world-renowned Wistar Institute in Pennsylvania. His interest in the live-virus polio vaccine caused his career to overlap with Albert Sabin’s work regularly. The obituary details the competition between Sabin and Koprowski for the eventual triumph of their various polio vaccines.[1] Letters in the Albert B. Sabin archives indicate that the two great scientists often shared material and data though, unfortunately, they did not have an entirely conflict-free relationship.

Much of their correspondence is simply “thank you” letters for strains of virus or data exchanged. Their early exchanges were cordial including an invitation for Sabin to stay with Koprowski when visiting New York. Koprowski offers to arrange an evening of musical performances[2] which would surely have been entertaining since he was a concert pianist and composer and Sabin was a lover of classical music.

As the polio wars—the race to create and license an effective vaccine to eliminate the threat of polio—heated up through the 1960s, their communications became more competitive. In late 1958, the two exchanged letters in which they disagreed on some experimental results. Sabin informed Koprowski that he could not duplicate Koprowski’s findings but softened the blow by stating that “it would not be the first time a busy, senior investigator had been misled by data reported to him by less experienced assistants.”[3] In his reply, Koprowski highlights several points of disagreement with Sabin’s work. Like Sabin, he removes some of his criticisms’ sting by including this La Rochefoucauld quote: “Les querelles ne dureraient pas longtemps, si Ie tort n’était que d’un coté.”[4] (Quarrels wouldn’t last so long if only one side was at fault.)

Koprowski was a staunch defender of his own work. In a letter to United States Surgeon General Leroy Burney, he addresses critiques directly and outlines why he believes his work merits consideration.[5] Even with his efforts, Sabin’s vaccine eclipsed his colleague’s and garnered world-wide attention and support. A tireless worker, Koprowski continued his scientific work in vaccines and cancer and eventually went on to win the Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal award in 2007. In his acceptance speech, he recounted several meetings he had with Sabin. He also spoke about the polio wars: “The principal protagonists were Albert Sabin and Jonas Salk. My participation was minimal except that I always supported the concept of live oral virus vaccine vs. formalin-inactivated virus vaccine.”[6]

At the end of his speech, Koprowski mentions several other positive encounters they had after the polio wars including an instance where Sabin defended him against criticism of his live virus polio vaccine trials in the Congo. Finally, he recounted an obituary he wrote for Sabin: “At one time, Sabin and I became adversaries over the selection of polio virus strains to be used as oral vaccines. This did not affect our long-lasting friendship and mutual respect. Courageous and wise. This is how I see him; I will miss him sorely.”[7]

The Sabin digital collection contains many of the letters exchanged between Drs. Sabin and Koprowski. To browse them, please visit the collection’s website.

References
[1] “Hilary Koprowski, Who Developed First Live-Virus Polio Vaccine, Dies at 96,” New York Times, April 20, 2013.
[2] Letter from Koprowski, Hilary to Sabin, Albert B. dated 1953-01-06.
[3] Letter from Sabin, Albert B. to Koprowski, Hilary dated 1958-11-17.
[4] Letter from Koprowski, Hilary to Sabin, Albert B. dated 1958-12-01.
[5] Letter from Koprowski, Hilary dated 1960-08-26.
[6] Hilary Koprowski’s Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal Speech (May 1, 2007).
[7] Ibid.

In 2010, the University of Cincinnati Libraries received a $314,258 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to digitize the correspondence and photographs of Dr. Albert B. Sabin. This digitization project has been designated a NEH “We the People” project, an initiative to encourage and strengthen the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture through the support of projects that explore significant events and themes in our nation’s history and culture and that advance knowledge of the principles that define America. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Dr. Albert B. Sabin

Sabin project student assistant Katie Pintz created a couple of lesson plans to encourage the use of the the newly digitized materials in the Albert B. Sabin Archives. They are:

• “Albert Sabin and the Cold War” – which is a lesson plan for high school United States history classes.
• “Albert Sabin and Bioethics” – which is a lesson plan for high school biology classes.

We look forward to hearing what you think about these lesson plans. Please give us feedback either here on the blog, or you can send your comments to chhp@uc.edu.

In 2010, the University of Cincinnati Libraries received a $314,258 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to digitize the correspondence and photographs of Dr. Albert B. Sabin. This digitization project has been designated a NEH “We the People” project, an initiative to encourage and strengthen the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture through the support of projects that explore significant events and themes in our nation’s history and culture and that advance knowledge of the principles that define America. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Albert Sabin and Basil O’Connor pose with Dr. Sabin’s bust, sculpted by Edmond Romulus Amateis.

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) recently launched, and, of course, I wanted to see if there was anything Sabin-related in the collection. Doing a quick search for Albert Sabin revealed a bust which resides at the National Portrait Gallery. According to the DPLA, this bust, a 1966 cast after 1958 terra cotta original, was originally sculpted by Edmond Romulus Amateis.[1] This bust was originally created for the Polio Wall of Fame in Warm Springs, Georgia. We have a photograph in our collection of Dr. Sabin and National Foundation President Basil O’Connor posing with the bust created by Amateis.

Diving further into the Sabin collection, we also have a couple of letters between the artist and Dr. Sabin. These letters reveal an unsolved mystery…

In 1974, Mr. Amateis wrote a letter to Dr. Sabin regarding the strange theft of his terra cotta bust from the first floor of the South Lake Memorial Hospital in Clermont, Florida. Amateis included a newspaper clipping which read:

The Clermont Police Department is continuing the investigation. Since the bust is of no value as to material composition, it is earnestly hoped that it will be returned to the hospital so that it may resume its former place. The bust is not a copy so that a replica cannot be obtained.[2]

Dr. Sabin’s reply to Mr. Amateis was rather humorous, saying, “I am sure the only reason they would want [the bust] is because it is a remarkable example of your artistry as a sculptor.”[3] He hoped to hear if the Clermont Police Department found a motive for the theft. Unfortunately, we do not have any letters in the collection that contain information about a motive or if the bust was ever recovered.

Whatever happened to the terra cotta bust originally sculpted by Mr. Amateis? Was it ever recovered? We may never know…

References
Note: The photograph in this blog can be found at http://hdl.handle.net/2374.UC/692216.
[1] “Albert Bruce Sabin,” Digital Public Library of America, accessed 22 April 2013.
[2] Letter from Amateis, Edmond to Sabin, Albert B. dated 1974-04-12.
[3] Letter from Sabin, Albert B. to Amateis, Edmond dated 1974-04-18.

In 2010, the University of Cincinnati Libraries received a $314,258 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to digitize the correspondence and photographs of Dr. Albert B. Sabin. This digitization project has been designated a NEH “We the People” project, an initiative to encourage and strengthen the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture through the support of projects that explore significant events and themes in our nation’s history and culture and that advance knowledge of the principles that define America. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Albert Sabin was awarded a National Medal of Science in 1970 by President Richard Nixon. He received this National Medal of Science for “numerous fundamental contributions to the understanding of viruses and viral diseases, culminating in the development of the vaccine which has eliminated poliomyelitis as a major threat to human health.” Check out Sabin’s biography and other award recipients at the NSF’s National Medal of Science 50th Anniversary online exhibit!

(Images of the front and back of Dr. Sabin’s award are seen here in this blog post and will be in the newly digitized collection soon!)

Reference
[1] National Science Foundation. The National Medal of Science 50th Anniversary. Accessed 25 February 2013. http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/medalofscience50/index.jsp

In 2010, the University of Cincinnati Libraries received a $314,258 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to digitize the correspondence and photographs of Dr. Albert B. Sabin. This digitization project has been designated a NEH “We the People” project, an initiative to encourage and strengthen the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture through the support of projects that explore significant events and themes in our nation’s history and culture and that advance knowledge of the principles that define America. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.