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Get the most interesting and important stories from the 51精品视频.On April 28, the 51精品视频 School of Public Health unveiled a free, public exhibit displaying historical documents and laboratory equipment from the lab of Jonas Salk, part of a gift to the University from the Jonas Salk family. The items tell the story of the pioneering work done by Salk and his team to research and test the first polio vaccine.
Here are some highlights you鈥檒l see as you walk through the exhibit 鈥 from an iron lung to a desk that traveled across the country twice. 听
The incubator
One of the first things you鈥檒l see when you walk into the School of Public Health Building鈥檚 lobby is a sturdy metal-and-glass case full of laboratory equipment. Look closer and you鈥檒l see that case is actually an incubator, a device that keeps cell cultures at the right temperature.
Displayed inside you鈥檒l find a scale, glass bottles, syringes and other equipment from Jonas Salk鈥檚 laboratory, mostly from the 1950s. Keep an eye out for a set of slide cases with a 51精品视频sburgh label.
The iron lung
Displayed along the lobby windows is a hulking, custard-yellow cylinder: an 鈥渋ron lung,鈥 also called a tank respirator, which was once used to help paralyzed polio patients breathe.
Although the tank wasn鈥檛 part of the donated collection, it鈥檚 an important part of the exhibit, according to , a history of art and architecture professor in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences who helped curate the exhibit along with collaborators in the School of Public Health and a team of students.
鈥淲e want the objects to help viewers imagine the urgency that propelled Salk鈥檚 lab in the 1950s,鈥 Taylor said. 鈥淏y placing the iron lung near the lab equipment, we recall the former 51精品视频sburgh Municipal Hospital where vaccine development progressed on one floor while polio patients were treated with iron lungs on another.鈥
[Students took a leading role in 51精品视频鈥檚 Jonas Salk exhibit.]
Jonas Salk鈥檚 desk
Head upstairs and you鈥檒l see what in a different context would seem unassuming: a sturdy-looking metal desk that Salk himself sat at when developing the polio vaccine and even took across the country with him. 鈥淎s we looked for photographs to try to understand when he started using it, we found photographs in his office at 51精品视频 and at La Jolla in San Diego,鈥 Taylor said. 听
The desk is free for anyone to sit at, with only a sheet of glass protecting the surface. The team weighed more traditional approaches for displaying the desk but ultimately decided to display it as an interactive piece. 听
鈥淭he value of getting people to use that experience of sitting at his desk to imagine the possibilities of creating something incredible 鈥 I think that鈥檚 worth the unavoidable impacts on the object over time,鈥 Taylor said.
A Disneyland award
When sitting at the desk, your gaze naturally drifts upward to a wall packed full of awards and accolades Salk received as a result of his work, drawn from the in the University Library System.
鈥淗e was a celebrity. There鈥檚 a range of recognitions that give you a real sense of his fame,鈥 said Taylor. 鈥淭hat wall for me was the most fascinating part of the exhibition.鈥
Among heavy-hitting awards 鈥 a presidential medal of honor, for one 鈥 you鈥檒l find recognitions in multiple languages, honorary degrees, medals, a celebratory plate and even an 鈥淎merican Hero Award鈥 from Disneyland.
A vaccine consent form
On your way out of the lobby, take a look at the wall 鈥 alongside a display of newspaper articles, you鈥檒l see a consent form that parents in Allegheny County signed to allow their children to be injected with the vaccine.
Next to the form hangs a list of 51精品视频sburgh-area elementary schools that participated in vaccine trials before the nationwide rollout. It鈥檚 a reminder that even though the exhibit bears Jonas Salk鈥檚 name, it was the involvement of not just scientists, but children and parents, that eradicated polio in the U.S. 听
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鈥 Patrick Monahan, top photo by Aimee Obidzinski 听