Postage Stamp Honoring Salk Vaccine is Inaugurated at Rackham Auditorium

When the U.S. Postal Service asked Americans to select what they considered the most important science and technology advancement of the 1950s, respondents chose the polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk. The vaccine, which was tested in a massive clinical trial directed by the late Thomas Francis, a professor in the School of Public Health and a leading epidemiologist, revolutionized the battle against the deadly polio virus.

On May 26, the U.S. Postal Service honored the fight against polio with the release of a commemorative postage stamp: “Polio Vaccine Developed.” It is one of 15 stamps that are part of the 1950s edition of the Postal Service’s “Celebrate the Century” commemorative stamp program. The polio stamp was unveiled at Rackham Auditorium on the U-M campus, the same site where the announcement of the efficacy of the polio vaccine was made on April 12, 1955.

Salk was a research scientist with Francis in the School of Public Health before joining the University of Pittsburgh in 1947 where the polio vaccine was developed. Salk found a mentor and a research collaborator in Francis, who conducted the clinical trials of the polio vaccine in 1954. In 1961, Albert Sabin developed a live attenuated (weakened) oral polio vaccine.