Descriptive Summary
Scope and Content of Collection
Biography
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Publication Rights
Digital Content
Restrictions
Related Materials
Descriptive Summary
Languages:
English
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Jane S. Smith Collection on Jonas Salk
Creator:
Smith, Jane S.
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0810
Physical Description:
2 Linear feet
(2 archives boxes, 4 card file boxes, and 1 oversize folder)
Physical Description:
.822 GB
of digital files
Date (inclusive): 1950-1993
Abstract: Author and historian Jane S. Smith's materials relating to Jonas Salk and the National Foundation/March of Dimes, collected
while researching her book
Patenting the Sun: Polio and the Salk Vaccine (1990). The collection includes ephemera, interview transcripts, and sound recordings.
Scope and Content of Collection
Author and historian Jane S. Smith's materials relating to Jonas Salk and the National Foundation/March of Dimes, collected
while researching her book
Patenting the Sun: Polio and the Salk Vaccine (1990). The collection includes a small amount of March of Dimes and public health ephemera promoting polio prevention and
the 1955 vaccine. The bulk of the collection consists of notes, transcripts and original recordings from Smith's interviews
with Jonas Salk, members of the Salk family, and people familiar with the story of the 1955 vaccine development. It also includes
recordings from an interview conducted in 1964 with Jonas Salk, possibly by Richard Carter (the interviewer is unidentified
in the recordings).
Arranged in three series: 1) PAPERS, 2) INTERVIEWS - TRANSCRIPTS AND NOTES, and 3) INTERVIEWS - SOUND RECORDINGS.
Biography
Jane S. Smith writes about the intersection of science, natural history, and popular culture. Her books have covered topics
from the pioneering career of tastemaker Elsie de Wolfe to the development of the first polio vaccine, the long history of
domesticated chickens, and the influential career of plant inventor Luther Burbank. (From Smith's website, cited in March
2019: http://www.janessmith.com/works.htm)
Preferred Citation
Jane S. Smith Collection on Jonas Salk. MSS 810. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 2018
Publication Rights
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Digital Content
Selected sound recordings from the collection have digital use copies available upon request, which were provided by the donor
(Ms. Smith had them created in 2003 by the Northwestern University Library, Digital Media Services). Two interview recordings
exist only in digital format.
Restrictions
Original sound recording formats are restricted. Users may inquire about use copies prior to their visit.
Related Materials
Jonas Salk Papers. MSS 1. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Poliomyelitis -- United States -- History -- Sources
Poliomyelitis -- Vaccination -- History -- Sources
Poliomyelitis vaccine -- History -- Sources
Salk, Jonas, 1914-1995
National Foundation