News release, July 18, 2007

Georgia

Department of Labor

NEWS RELEASE

SUITE 642



(404) 232-3685

148 INTERNATIONAL BOULEVARD, N.E.



ATLANTA, GA 30303-1751



FAX (404) 657-9996

Communications@dol.state.ga.us

Michael Thurmond
Commissioner

Sam Hall
Director of Communications

July 18, 2007............................................................FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Smithsonian exhibition to open Aug. 15 at Roosevelt Warm Springs

ATLANTA State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said today that the Georgia Department of Labor's Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation (RWSIR) will begin displaying in August a Smithsonian Institution exhibition, "Whatever Happened to Polio?" in historic Roosevelt Hall at Warm Springs, the site of the Polio Hall of Fame.

"As a National Historic Landmark District, we are proud of our past and pleased to have this opportunity to host a Smithsonian Institution exhibition that is so much a part of our history," said Commissioner Thurmond. "It's the story of one of mankind's greatest medical achievements and a story that provides hope for progress on other health issues today. We look forward to sharing it with visitors from across the country and beyond."

The exhibition tells the story of the polio epidemic in America, development of the Salk vaccine,
current worldwide efforts to stop polio transmission and the stories of polio survivors, many of
whom are expected to return to Warm Springs to see the display. It also explores changes in American medicine in the 20th century and the impact a disease can have on society as a whole.

The exhibition will be on display Monday through Friday, beginning Aug. 15, from 10 a.m. until 12 noon and again from 1-3 p.m. daily. A special ribbon cutting ceremony and grand opening is also planned for Georgia Rotary Friends and Family Day, Saturday, Aug. 11. Rotarians are expected to converge on Roosevelt Warm Springs from all over the state. Warm Springs is where polio eradication efforts first began in the 1920s and where the March of Dimes originated, thanks to the efforts of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The exhibition is funded by Rotary International, Georgia Rotary District 6900, March of Dimes Foundation, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and a grant from the Georgia Humanities Council. "We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Rotary International, District 6900, and Rotary's Polio Plus Program -- headed by Carol Pandak -- for their generous and enthusiastic support," said RWSIR executive director Greg Schmieg. "We would also like to thank the Georgia Humanities Council for their grant."

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SMITHSONIAN EXHIBIT last add
The exhibition was originally displayed in Washington, D.C., in 2005, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Salk vaccine. The vaccine effectively eradicated the crippling, viral disease, poliomyelitis, in the United States. The exhibit closed in Washington last October in conjunction with ongoing renovations at the National Museum of American History.
With the opening at Warm Springs, the exhibition will further the legacy of Roosevelt Warm Springs, which continues 80 years after its founding by President Roosevelt to make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities, and the legacy of Rotary International, which has been a primary sponsor in recent years for polio eradication worldwide.
In that regard, William B. Boyd, president of Rotary International said, "It is very fitting that Roosevelt Warm Springs should host this exhibition, which opened some 50 years after 1.8 million polio pioneers volunteered to be immunized with the experimental polio vaccines. Thanks to these volunteers, this disease has disappeared in the U.S. and much of the world. Yet, despite two effective vaccines, this crippling and potentially fatal disease still threatens children in parts of Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Through Rotary and its 1.2 million members, the spirit of volunteerism remains just as strong today in the global effort to eradicate polio worldwide."
"Rotarians in the state are taking a lot of pride in bringing this exhibition to Georgia," District 6900 Governor Bill Woulfin said. "We're looking forward to the legacy of polio and all the good work that has surrounded its eradication worldwide being re-connected in Warm Springs."
This project is supported by the Georgia Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities and through appropriations from the Georgia General Assembly.
NEWS MEDIA NEEDING MORE INFORMATION MAY CALL MARTIN HARMON AT RWSIR AT (706) 655-5668
CY-07-247