Armstrong – Table of Contents

On January 2 and 3, 1958, Charles Armstrong was inducted into “The Polio Hall
of Fame” (36) at the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation in celebration of the Twentieth
Anniversary of the incorporation of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. Dr.
Armstrong’s wife and daughter accompanied him to this event. The Hall of Fame
consisted of a linear grouping of sculptured busts of 15 scientists and 2 non-scientists
who made major contributions to the knowledge and control of poliomyelitis. The busts,
in the order of their placement from left to right in the monument, were those of Drs.
Jacob von Heine, Oskar Medin, Ivar Wickman, Karl Landsteiner, Thomas M. Rivers,
Charles Armstrong, John R. Paul, Albert B. Sabin, Thomas Francis, Jr., Joseph L.
Melnick, Isabel Morgan, Howard A. Howe, David Bodian, John F. Enders and Jonas E.
Salk; the two non-scientists were President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Mr. Basil
O’Connor. Dr. Enders was the only one of the still living scientists who was unable to
attend the ceremony. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, the President’s widow, represented the late
President at the ceremony.
A buffet luncheon followed the unveiling of the monument. In the afternoon, the
Warm Springs staff provided guided tours of the grounds and treatment facilities of
Georgia Warm Springs, The Little White House (where FDR stayed on his frequent visits
and where he suffered his fatal stroke), and the Ida Cason Callaway Gardens. A 5:30 PM
Reception occurred at the Golf Club. Dinner at 7:30 PM in the Main Dining Room,
Georgia Hall, concluded with an after-dinner address by Mr. Basil O’Connor entitled
“Threescore Years and Ten.”
The concluding session the next day consisted of a 10:30AM “Demonstration of
Modern Rehabilitation Techniques” by Dr. Robert L. Bennett. A post-luncheon session,