Object Details
- Becton, Dickinson and Company
- Description
- Jonas Salk used this syringe during the testing of his polio vaccine. In the early tests carried out in 1952 and 1953, Salk gave all the vaccinations himself. The first subjects included children at the D. T. Watson Home for Crippled Children, residents of the Polk State Home, Salk, and members of his laboratory staff. In 1953, the first community-based, pilot vaccine trial was carried out with volunteer families in the Pittsburgh area. A second pilot trial included thousands of Pittsburgh schoolchildren. The success of these early tests paved the way for the Salk Vaccine National Field Trial of 1954.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis
- ca 1950
- ID Number
- MG.221419.07
- catalog number
- 221419.07
- accession number
- 221419
- Object Name
- biological
- syringe, vaccine, polio
- Other Terms
- syringe, hypodermic; Hypodermic
- Physical Description
- glass (plunger; barrel; tip material)
- steel (handle; needle material)
- Measurements
- overall: 10.4 cm x 2.8 cm x 1 cm; 4 1/8 in x 1 1/8 in x 3/8 in
- overall: 4 1/8 in x 1 1/8 in x 3/8 in; 10.4775 cm x 2.8575 cm x .9525 cm
- Related Publication
- Kendrick, Kathleen M. and Peter C. Liebhold. Smithsonian Treasures of American History
- National Museum of American History. Treasures of American History exhibition website
- Related Web Publication
- https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/treasures-american-history
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Medicine
- Health & Medicine
- The Antibody Initiative
- National Treasures exhibit
- Antibody Initiative: Polio
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_734498
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-866b-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
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