From Iron Lungs to Vaccine Lines: 15 Photos From the Polio Epidemic You Won’t Forget

Before vaccines and public health triumphs, polio was the thing that kept parents up at night. During its peak from 1948 to 1955, the disease swept through towns across America, hitting children the hardest and paralyzing legs, stealing breath, and filling hospital wards with the hum of iron lungs. Playgrounds emptied, classrooms closed, and radios crackled with updates on new cases.

But alongside the fear came resilience: Kids lined up to be Polio Pioneers, classrooms turned into vaccination hubs, and public figures like FDR and Elvis helped rally a nation desperate for hope. These photos capture that pivotal moment in history.

1. The Iron Lung Club

At the height of the polio epidemic, hospital wards looked more like machine rooms than recovery spaces. Rows of iron lungs stretched wall to wall, each one holding a child whose muscles suddenly stopped working. These enormous metal tubes did the breathing for them, wheezing while nurses tended to them and held straws to their parched mouths for a drink.

2. Polio Prevention

Before scientists understood how polio spread, there was a serious sense of desperation to try to prevent and control it. People started to wonder if mosquitoes were somehow to blame. This 1949 photo shows children front and center as the Texas Health Department sprayed a vacant lot with toxic DDT to kill as many mosquitoes as possible after a rise in polio cases.

3. Polio Vaccine Trials at School

In 1954, nearly two million children across the U.S. lined up for the Salk vaccine trials, the largest public health experiment in American history. Dubbed “Polio Pioneers,” these kids rolled up their sleeves to help test a vaccine that hadn’t yet been proven, all in the name of stopping a virus that was reaching its nasty peak.

4. The King Playing His Part

During polio’s height, the Elvis craze was going strong. Because of the King’s huge fan base, he was known to visit polio patients after they recovered, doing his part to uplift them. He also received his polio vaccine on camera and was part of the campaign to get people vaccinated. In 1957, he took a break from filming “Jailhouse Rock” to meet two teenage fans paralyzed by polio.

5. March of Dimes Poster Child

In the mid‑1950s, before the polio vaccine became widespread, survivors were often plucked from hospital wards and made the face of hope. This photo shows one such young poster child for the March of Dimes, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was also a polio survivor.

6. The Peoples’ Patent

In 1955, Jonas Salk became a national hero — but he didn’t make a dime off the vaccine that made him famous. When asked why he didn’t patent it, he said, “Could you patent the sun?” The vaccine rolled out fast, was accessible to everyone, and polio cases dropped off a cliff.

7. A Teacher Explaining the New Polio Vaccine to Students

In 1955, regular classroom instruction paused so teachers could explain the new polio vaccine to wide-eyed students. Schools at the time banded together to educate children and parents for a hefty push toward solving the polio epidemic that wreaked havoc until the vaccination was invented.

8. Polio Paralysis

Polio was especially brutal to kids, often striking without warning and leaving lasting damage. In its most severe form, it caused muscle weakness or paralysis, typically in the legs. Some recovered mobility over time, but many needed leg braces, crutches, or other walking aids to get around.

9. Getting Vaccinated

By the mid-1950s, the rollout of the polio vaccine was a game changer. Within just five years of widespread vaccination, polio cases in the U.S. dropped by nearly 90%. Lining up for shots or sugar cubes was all part of a national push that turned fear into action and saved thousands of kids from paralysis.

10. Remote Learning With the Radio

In the late 1940s, polio outbreaks shuttered schools across the U.S., but kids found a way to keep learning. Armed with radios and notebooks, elementary students tuned in from home as teachers broadcast lessons over the airwaves — the original remote learning.

11. FDR Getting Involved

Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was paralyzed by polio at 39, became a symbol of resilience for thousands of children affected by the disease. At events and fundraisers, he often met with young polio survivors — shaking hands, offering encouragement, and doing his part to raise awareness to find a cure.

12. A Mother’s Love and Dedication

During polio outbreaks, families faced heartbreaking separation. If a child showed symptoms, they were often rushed to isolation wards — sometimes for weeks — while parents were kept away to prevent further spread. For many moms and dads, that meant standing outside hospital windows, hoping for a glimpse, a wave, or reading stories like the mother in this picture.

13. The Polio Ward

At the height of the polio epidemic, hospital wards overflowed with children, iron lungs and beds or cribs lined up wall to wall, barely enough space to walk between them. Nurses and doctors worked around the clock, often improvising care as more patients poured in than beds were available.

14. Roy Rogers and Trigger Visiting the Polio Ward

In the early 1950s, cowboy icon Roy Rogers and his trusty horse Trigger brought some much-needed joy to children in polio wards. Dressed in full Western gear, Roy would visit hospitals to lift spirits, chatting with kids and letting them pet Trigger—sometimes right from their hospital beds.

15. Babies Barely Hanging On

Polio didn’t spare the youngest — babies who hadn’t yet taken their first steps were suddenly fighting to breathe, move, or even swallow. In the 1952 U.S. outbreak alone, over 21,000 people were left with some level of paralysis, including many infants. For the most severe cases, especially those affecting chest muscles, iron lungs became a lifeline for babies’ fragile bodies.

Read more about other historic hurdles:

From tornadoes to terrorism, 15 Photos That Show the Moment Catastrophe Hit illustrates how everything can change in the blink of an eye. And these 15 Haunting Photos of the 1930s Dust Bowl are a reminder that Mother Nature is in charge. It really puts 19 Rich People Problems That Sound Completely Ridiculous in perspective, doesn’t it?