THE MARCH OF DIMES FOUNDATION (BOY); COURTESY OF BOSTON CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL ARCHIVE (GIRL); AMERICAN PHOTO

ARCHIVE/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (MASKS); NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION; GIFT OF ESTRELLITA
KARSH IN MEMORY OF YOUSUF KARSH (DR. SALK); SCIENCE LAB/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (BACKGROUND)

4
Nonfiction

S T O R Y W O R K S
From
Fear

©2021 Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.

Nearly 100 years ago, a deadly virus called
across America. My grandmother told me about
lessons—and hope—for what we’re
to
 Hope

polio spread sickness and fear

this frightening time. Her stories provide
LEARN
facing today. by Lauren Tarshis MORE IN OUR
BEHIND-THE-
SCENES
VIDEO!

STORYWORKS.SCHOLASTIC.COM • MARCH/APRIL 2021 5

 UP Author’s Purpose As you read, think about
CLOSE
why Lauren Tarshis wrote this story. What LOOK FOR WORD NERD’S 8 WORDS IN BOLD
message does she want to share with you?

I
wish you had known my grandmother, a young movie star.
Jennie Ross. She was warm and funny. But my grandmother
I know you would have loved her. (She told me something

COURTESY OF LAUREN TARSHIS (DOLLY); THE GLOBE AND MAIL (QUARANTINE);

SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS; SCIENCE LAB/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (BACKGROUND)
definitely would have loved you.) She surprising about Dolly
was born in 1920 and lived a long life. It was one day. Under her blue
mostly happy but sometimes very difficult. dress, Dolly’s little legs
Often she’d tell me stories of her childhood were covered with metal
as we looked through her photo albums. I braces. The braces were
especially loved her wedding album, from held tightly to her legs with leather straps.
1938. My grandmother was beautiful in her They kept her steady so she could stand. At
white dress. I mostly loved looking at the my grandmother’s wedding, she made her way
flower girl. She was my grandmother’s 10-year- down the aisle with slow, halting steps. She
old cousin, Dolly Yasnitz. She reminded me of used two wooden crutches.

How were the polio outbreaks of the

lio
Deadly po f the
k s in th e first half o
outbrea
th e liv es of millions
nged hat’s
1900s cha A m e ri ca. And w
acro s s n’t all
of people w ith Covid-19 is
to d a y hat the
happening a k e a look at w
nt. T
that differe . How does
it look
w a s lik e
past today?
im ila r to the world
s

People Quarantined
During outbreaks, many were told to quarantine at
home. Public health workers would put signs like the
one above on the doors of kids who were infected.

6 S T O R Y W O R K S
 Dolly’s legs had been damaged by a disease
called polio. Until the 1950s, polio was one of
the most dreaded diseases in the world. It killed
thousands. Many who survived were left with
lifelong damage to their limbs.
From Fear to Pride
Dolly and my grandmother grew up in the
1920s and ’30s. Their parents and their aunts and
uncles had all escaped from Russia. Because they
were Jewish, they had faced hateful treatment
BETTMAN/GETTY IMAGES (REMOTE LEARNING)
grandfather—became the first Jewish police
captain in Chester. The whole family was very
proud.
But along with the happy times was always
the threat of illness. My grandmother and Dolly
grew up before many modern vaccines and
medicines. In 1918, a pandemic of influenza—
the flu—killed more than 50 million people
around the world. Outbreaks of measles and
mumps were common. Without antibiotics, an
ear infection or a simple cut could turn deadly.

there. They came to the United States in the early

1900s and all settled in Chester, Pennsylvania.
Life wasn’t easy. They worked hard jobs in
factories and shipyards. They struggled to learn
English. But over time, the family did better.
My grandmother’s father, Ben—my great-
Polio Mysteries
Polio was especially feared. The disease had
been around for thousands of years. But it was
mostly unknown in the United States until the
late 1800s.

past like Covid-19 outbreaks today?

Kids Learned Remotely
In 1937, Chicago schools closed
because of polio. Computers hadn’t
been invented yet. So teachers taught
325,000 kids over the radio. Daily
class schedules were printed in local
newspapers.

Schools Closed
To stop the spread of
polio, officials closed
schools for weeks at
a time.

STORYWORKS.SCHOLASTIC.COM • MARCH/APRIL 2021 7

 Outbreaks struck every few years. They
exploded out of nowhere like horror-movie
monsters. My grandmother had clear memories
of when polio struck Chester. Her school would
shut down for weeks or longer. Stores and movie
theaters and libraries would close. When a
person became ill, their entire family was forced
to quarantine. Hospitals became overwhelmed.
Nobody knew what caused polio or
how it spread. And there was no treatment.
Fortunately, most people got only a fever, sore
throat, or body aches. But in severe cases, polio
badly affected the muscles. It could even attack
the muscles needed for breathing. This is how
people died. Others were left paralyzed, unable
to use their legs or arms.
Anyone could catch polio. But sadly, the
disease most often struck children.
Scientists Raced to Find a Vaccine
Scientists worked for years to develop a vaccine to protect people
from polio. When it was announced that Jonas Salk’s (above)
vaccine was safe and effective, church bells rang across the country.
8 S T O R Y W O R K S
Terrified and Lucky
Dolly got sick when she was 6. The
family rushed her to the hospital, fearing
the worst. Many children with polio died
of it. Others spent months in the hospital,
away from their families. There were few
medicines to ease pain. There were no
streaming shows or video games to help pass
the time.
Dolly had a serious case. But after a
few weeks in the hospital, she returned
home. My grandmother and Dolly’s other
cousins took turns visiting. They sang to
her, performed puppet shows, and read her
favorite nursery rhymes.
Over the next year, Dolly learned to
walk using crutches. Braces locked her legs
into place. She was able to return to school
Celebrities
PAUL POPPER/POPPERFOTO/GETTY IMAGES (DR. SALK); THE MARCH OF DIMES FOUNDATION (MARILYN MONROE); SCIENCE LAB/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (BACKGROUND)
Helped Raise Awareness
Famous Americans, like the
actress Marilyn Monroe (below),
encouraged people to stay safe and
helped spread the word about the
polio vaccine in the 1950s.
and continue learning piano. She was thrilled
when my grandmother asked her to be the
flower girl at her wedding.
“Polio Pioneers”
By the time of that wedding, scientists had
begun to solve some of the mysteries of polio.
They learned that it spread through the poop
of an infected person. What if that person
didn’t wash their hands carefully enough?
They could leave tiny amounts of the virus
on surfaces. Another person might touch
the surface. The virus could then enter that
second person’s body through the mouth.
During the 1940s and early ’50s,
Americans mobilized in an all-out crusade
against polio. People across the country
volunteered to help raise money for research.
Children sold lemonade. Disney characters
like Mickey Mouse paraded across movie
screens. They urged audience members to
donate. “Heigh-ho, heigh-ho,” they sang. “We
will cure polio!”
Millions of dollars poured into laboratories
where researchers were racing to develop a
vaccine. And in 1953, there was jubilation:
A 38-year-old scientist named Jonas Salk
announced that he had successfully developed
a polio vaccine.
The following year, 1.8 million children
lined up in their schools to receive the
vaccine. They were known as “polio pioneers.”
Within a few years, polio cases in America
plummeted. By the time I was born, in the
1960s, polio was almost unheard of in the
United States.
Lessons of Hope
The vaccine couldn’t help people like
Dolly. Her bout with polio left her with
troubles for the rest of her life. Like my
grandmother, she married and started a
family. But as she got older, the pain in her
legs worsened. It was hard for her to work,
travel, or walk. She died at the age of 71,
in 1999.
My grandmother lived much longer.
She died just nine years ago, at the age of
92. I miss her deeply. And I think of her
constantly. The polio stories she shared are
echoing loudly through my mind these days.
Because now, we all cope with a different
disease: Covid-19.
They are similar in so many ways. Like
polio, Covid-19 was a mystery to scientists
when it first appeared in December 2019.
The outbreaks have shut down our schools
and closed our restaurants and libraries.
They have canceled our vacations and sports
seasons. Covid-19 makes us feel scared and
uncertain.
But my grandmother’s stories of polio
give me hope. We conquered polio. And this
gives me confidence that we will conquer
Covid-19. While I was working on this story,
the first vaccines against Covid-19 were
being approved.
I will always have memories of this
remarkable time we are living through.
And of course, so will you. Perhaps one
day, you will pass your stories on to your
grandchildren, with lessons that will fill their
hearts with hope. n

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about what we are facing with Covid-19? Answer using examples from the SKILL
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