“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’…You must do the thing you think you cannot do” (Roosevelt, You Learn by Living 29-30)
Polio:
A predominantly childhood disease in the early 20th century, polio wreaked havoc among American children every summer. The virus, which affects the central nervous system, flourished in contaminated food and water and was easily transmitted. Those who survived the disease usually suffered from debilitating paralysis into their adult lives.
Roosevelt contract polio:
FDR's encountered his biggest hurdle in the summer of 1921 at the age of 39. After swimming in the waters, while vacationing at Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada, he was diagnosed with the crippling disease that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Franklin D. Roosevelt had polio. For the rest of his life he used a cane and metal braces to stand and walk short distances. When he was not in public, he moved around in a wheelchair. |
Acceptance:
At first, he refused to accept that he was permanently paralyzed. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the first president with a disability, was a great advocate for the rehabilitation of people with disabilities, but still operated under the notion that a disability was an abnormal, shameful condition, and should be medically cured or fixed. Despite his efforts, he never regained the use of his legs.
At first, he refused to accept that he was permanently paralyzed. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the first president with a disability, was a great advocate for the rehabilitation of people with disabilities, but still operated under the notion that a disability was an abnormal, shameful condition, and should be medically cured or fixed. Despite his efforts, he never regained the use of his legs.
Georgia Springs:
In 1924, FDR made a trip to the Georgia resort with high hopes that the mineral water in the springs could treat his paralysis. The spring’s water came from Pine Mountain and was known to be rich in mineral content and extremely pure. Although the waters did not restore FDR to ultimate health, his continued visits throughout his political life resulted in an increase in the resort’s popularity and business.
(see March of Dimes for more information)
President Franklin Roosevelt at Georgia Springs
Below: Home movie footage of various scenes, circa 1928, showing areas around the treatment facility at Warm Springs, GA. Included in this silent footage are shots of FDR swimming, receiving therapy, and attending picnics.
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/aboutfdr/polio.html
In 1924, FDR made a trip to the Georgia resort with high hopes that the mineral water in the springs could treat his paralysis. The spring’s water came from Pine Mountain and was known to be rich in mineral content and extremely pure. Although the waters did not restore FDR to ultimate health, his continued visits throughout his political life resulted in an increase in the resort’s popularity and business.
(see March of Dimes for more information)
President Franklin Roosevelt at Georgia Springs
Below: Home movie footage of various scenes, circa 1928, showing areas around the treatment facility at Warm Springs, GA. Included in this silent footage are shots of FDR swimming, receiving therapy, and attending picnics.
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/aboutfdr/polio.html