The polio wars exacerbated political and public pressures to expand polio researchers’ attention to patient care and decreased believability about claims by orthopedic surgeons that only surgery could fix “deformities.” There was a new focus on questions of efficacy and the authority of expertise. What was the meaning of clinical results? If a treatment worked did it therefore challenge previous theories on which older, less efficacious therapies were based? If not, why not? What was the relationship between therapy and theory? And how could the tools of medical science help to resolve this dispute?
NFIP national officials began to rethink their constant defense of caution when assessing new ideas in polio. Perhaps the many scientists funded by the NFIP were some of the most brilliant scientists in the world who did slow, painstaking work that “eventually … like a slow-moving glacier, will crush and conquer infantile paralysis.”294 But perhaps these scientists needed more direction and coordination, despite their professed desire for professional independence. Unlike the well-publicized model of coordinated research and testing for the new drug penicillin, polio research, Gudakunst reflected, was not achieving any headway because too many scientists were “satisfied to work over and over again those fields of exploration that have been covered by their contemporaries.”295
Quietly, some NFIP chapters began to use the term “Kenny” in their own fundraising. In Delaware the NFIP chapter sent out a fundraising letter assuring supporters that their donations had “sent 26 children to the Kenny Clinic [at the Wilmington General Hospital] for hospitalization and medical treatment” and all but 2 had “returned to school or to their play pens minus the deformities and twisted bodies that were so prevalent in the days when Polio was thought to be unconquerable.”296 The growing influence of the Kenny method was visible in polio care everywhere.
NOTES
1. “Keep Sister Kenny Here” New York Journal-American February 17 1944; “Sister Kenny Irate, May Leave Country” New York Times February 4 1944; “Sister Kenny Expects To Leave Soon” Hartford Courant February 4 1944; “Polio Funds Short, Kenny May Leave U.S.” Washington Post February 4 1944. This amount was probably prompted by the news that the NFIP was providing a 5-year grant of $150,000 for a physical medicine center at the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; “The Scientific Study and Development of Physical Medicine” Science (January 7 1944) 99: 10–11.
2. Frank D. Campion The A.M.A. and U.S. Health Policy since 1940 (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1984), 129–130; Patricia Spain Ward “United States versus American Medical Association et al.: The Medical Anti-Trust Case of 1938–1943” American Studies (1989) 30: 123–153.
3. Greer Williams “Medicine’s India-Rubber Man” Saturday Evening Post October 19 1946, 26; see also “Docs Flock” Time (May 22 1944) 43: 46; “A.M.A. Meeting” Time (June 26 1944) 43: 50; “Remedy for Fishbein” Time (July 15 1946) 48: 94. The vote in 1944 was 144 to 9 and in 1945 it was 106 to 60.
4. See, for example, Ida M. Kay to Dear Dr. Knapp, February 2 1943, [enclosed with] Miland E. Knapp to Dear Dr. Gudakunst, February 5 1943, Am. 15.8, Folder 29 [accessed in 1992 before recent recataloging], UMA-SC.
5. Kenny to Dear Sir [Editor, Minneapolis Star-Journal], February 1 1944, Minneapolis—Newspapers, 1941–1945, MHS-K; “Help Me, or I Quit U.S.—Sister Kenny” Chicago Herald-American February 4 1944; [editorial] “Must Sister Kenny Leave?” Tulsa Tribune February 8 1944; “Sister Kenney [sic] Withholds New Polio Discovery” Hartford Courant February 5 1944; “Early Diagnosis of Polio Claimed by Sister Kenny” Washington Post February 6 1944. Note that Miland Knapp told visitors to Minneapolis that although he had tried he could not feel what she was describing; Knapp quoted in Draft of Report of the Committee [enclosed with] Pepper to Darling, September 29, 1944, Committee to Review Request of Elizabeth Kenny Institute to National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis: General, Medical Sciences, 1944, National Academy of Sciences, Washington D.C. (hereafter Review Committee, 1944, NAS).
6. “Keep Sister Kenny Here” New York Journal-American February 17 1944; “Sister Kenny Expects To Leave Soon” Hartford Courant February 4 1944; “Sister Kenny Says Fishbein ‘Asked’ Her to Leave Country” New York Times February 4 1944; “Sister Kenny Irate, May Leave Country” New York Times February 4 1944.
7. “Physiologic Nonsense and Poliomyelitis” JAMA (January 22 1944) 124: 236. Fishbein referred to Joseph Moldaver (JAMA 1943), Watkins, Brazier, and Schwab (JAMA 1943) and Stanley Cobb (Archives of Medicine 1943).
8. Memorandum re: [transcript] Telephone Conversation between BO’C and Mr. Coniff of the Journal-American—11.23 A.M., February 4 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K; “University Willing To Aid Sister Kenny” New York Times February 5 1944; “O’Connor Denies Foundation Break with Sister Kenny” Hartford Courant February 6 1944.
9. [Editorial] “Must Sister Kenny Leave?” Tulsa Tribune February 8 1944.
10. “Keep Sister Kenny Here” New York Journal-American February 17 1944; see also “Keep Sister Kenny Here” Baltimore News Post February 15 1944.
11. Roy J. Bergstrom to Gentlemen, February 4 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K.
12. Arthur Mitchell to Dear Doctor Irwin, February 12 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K.
13. “Launch $150,000 Drive to Keep Sister Kenny Here” Pictorial Review March 11 1944, Chicago Herald-American, Clippings, 1944, MHS-K; “Laud Work of Sister Kenny” Chicago Herald-American March 7 1944; see also Philip Leslie Shutt [Boone County, Illinois NFIP chapter] to My Dear Sister Kenny, March 23 1944, NFIP-Misc., 1941–1944, MHS-K. A featured participant was writer Noreen Linduska who had experienced 2 kinds of polio during the 1943 Chicago epidemic and whose autobiography My Polio Past later enthusiastically praised Kenny’s methods; Robert D. Dinsmore “Happy Victory [review of My Polio Past]” New York Times October 26 1947; Lloyd Wendt “Polio Victim Writes Story Full of Hope” Chicago Daily Tribune August 1 1947; see also Noreen Lunduska My Polio Past (Chicago: Pellegrini & Cudahy, 1947). The Disabled Persons Association of America tried to ensure its members employment in war industries.
14. “Launch $150,000 Drive to Keep Sister Kenny Here” Pictorial Review March 11 1944, Chicago Herald-American, Clippings, 1944, MHS-K.
15. [No caption] Sunday Mirror March 12 1944, Clippings, 1944, MHS-K.
16. H. Spencer Jordan to My Dear Sister Kenny, October 28 1944, Complimentary Letters of Support 1944–1949, MHS-K.
17. [Editorial] “Sister Kenny” Washington Post February 5 1944.
18. “Sister Kenney [sic] Requested to Leave U.S.” Citizens’ Health News (February 1944) 2: 2; “Who’s Fighting for What Freedom?” Citizens’ Health News (February 1944) 2: 1, Clippings, 1944, MHS-K.
19. H. Spencer Jordan to My Dear Sister Kenny, October 28 1944, Complimentary Letters of Support 1944–1949, MHS-K.
20. Cosette Drew Dexter to Dear Sister Kenny, February 2 1944, Complimentary Letters of Support 1944–1949, MHS-K.
21. R. A. Gurney, letter to editor, St Paul Pioneer Press February 1944, Case Files- Misc., A-K, 1943–1946, MHS-K.
22. [Editorial] “Must Sister Kenny Leave?” Tulsa Tribune February 8 1944.
23. L. L. Oeland to Dear Sister Kinney [sic], February 5 1944, Board of Directors, MHS-K.
24. Edna V. Paul to Dear Mr. O’Connor, February 4 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K.
25. Edward James Smythe to Dear Sister Kenny, February 4 1944, Complimentary Letters of Support 1944–1949, MHS-K.
26. Editorial, “After 10 Years of Giving America Begins to Wonder” Seattle Times February 13 1944; see also [editorial] “Must Sister Kenny Leave?” Tulsa Tribune February 8 1944.
27. Edward James Smythe to Dear Sister Kenny, February 4 1944, Complimentary Letters of Support 1944–1949, MHS-K.
28. C. E. Conway to Dear Sister Kenny, July 24 1944, Chicago Associate Nurses, 1944, MHS-K; Chicago Nurses Committee “We Urge You Now To Write or Wire Your Congressman … ” [notice] March 27 1945, [enclosed with] Morris [Fishbein] to My Dear
Basil, March 30 1945, Public Relations, MOD-K.
29. Morris [Fishbein] to My Dear Basil, March 30 1945, Public Relations, MOD-K. Note orthopedic nurse Carmelita Calderwood warned the NFIP that it was “a non-professional group” that had “hitched up with Hearst papers” and had “been a cause of disquiet in nursing circles in Chicago; [Notes on conversation between] Mr. Cusack and Miss Calderwood, April 24 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K.
30. Elizabeth Kenny “God Is My Doctor: Chapter I” American Weekly March 29 1944, 18. It was ghostwritten by RKO publicity agent Dan Mainwaring.
31. Elizabeth Kenny “God Is My Doctor: Chapter II” American Weekly April 2 1944, 18; Elizabeth Kenny “God Is My Doctor: Chapter III” American Weekly April 9 1944, 17; Elizabeth Kenny “God Is My Doctor: Chapter II” American Weekly April 2 1944, 19.
32. Alice Marble Sister Elizabeth Kenny: Wonder Women of History as Told by Alice Marble (New York: Wonder Women Publishing Co., Spring 1944). Thanks to Bert Hansen for sending me a copy of this comic book.
33. “[Script] BO’C Interview, WHAS—Louisville, Ky. 2-29-44; 4:40–4.45 PM,” Public Relations, MOD-K.
34. The Story of the Kenny Method (New York: National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, 1944), 4–8; see also Norine Foley “March of Dimes O.K.’s Sister Kenny Methods” Los Angeles Examiner March 24 1944; “Statement on Kenny Method By O’Connor” Minneapolis Star-Journal March 16 1944; Basil O’Connor “The Story of the Kenny Method” Archives of Physical Therapy (April 1944) 25: 231–234.
35. “The National Foundation and Sister Kenny’s Work” February 8 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K; and see The Story of the Kenny Method, 4–6; John Lavan to My Dear Mrs. Miller, September 1 1944, Morris Fishbein Collection, vol. 77, Folder 8, Joseph Regenstein Library, University of Chicago; The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis Annual Report 1943 (New York: National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, 1943), 46; “Sister Kenny’s Work” Hartford Courant February 9 1944; Basil O’Connor “The Story of the Kenny Method” Archives of Physical Therapy (April 1944) 25: 231–234; Howard W. Blakeslee [science editor, AP] “Whispering Campaign” [enclosed in] Blakeslee to Dear Mr. O’Connor, February 21 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K; [Script] WPTF-“Fighting Infantile Paralysis,” Raleigh, N.C. March 11 [1944]–7:30–8:00 PM, Public Relations, MOD-K; “Statement on Kenny Method By O’Connor” Minneapolis Star-Journal March 16 1944.
36. “Sister Kenny’s Work” Hartford Courant February 9 1944.
37. “Sister Kenny’s Work” Hartford Courant February 9 1944; [Script] WPTF-“Fighting Infantile Paralysis,” Raleigh, N.C. March 11 [1944]–7:30–8:00 PM, Public Relations, MOD-K; The Story of the Kenny Method, 10.
38. “Paralysis Method Held Over[-]praised” New York Times April 11 1944.
39. [Script] WPTF- “Fighting Infantile Paralysis,” Raleigh, N.C. March 11 [1944]–7:30–8:00 PM, Public Relations, MOD-K.
40. The Story of the Kenny Method, 5, 10; [Script] WPTF-“Fighting Infantile Paralysis,” Raleigh, N.C. March 11 [1944]–7:30–8:00 PM, Public Relations, MOD-K; “The National Foundation and Sister Kenny’s Work” February 8 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K.
41. PJAC to DWG Memorandum, March 8 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K.
42. The Story of the Kenny Method, 11.
43. Eddie Cantor to Dear Basil, March 20 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K. Cantor’s “Show Business” was one of the top movies of 1944.
44. Mary [Pickford] to Dear Basil [O’Connor] March 11 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K. Pickford’s work with the NFIP is not mentioned in Scott Eyman Mary Pickford: America’s Sweetheart (New York: Donald I. Fine, 1990).
45. Peter J. A. Cusack to Dear Mary [Pickford] March 18 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K.
46. W. C. Higginbotham to Dear Sir, February 23 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K.
47. L. A. Karns, [secretary to W. A. Harriman] to Dear Mr. O’Connor, March 7 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K; Henry Ford to Dear Mr. Higginbotham, March 7 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K; James F. Bell to Dear Mr. O’Connor, March 2 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K; Peter J. A. Cusack to My Dear Mr. Clayton, March 7 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K; W. L. Clayton to Dear Mr. Higginbotham, March 6 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K.
48. F. B. Adams to Dear Mr. Higginbotham, March 13 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K.
49. Jack Alexander “Minneapolis-St Paul” Saturday Evening Post (April 3 1948), 23.
50. James F. Bell to My Dear Mr. O’Connor, March 8 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K.
51. Ibid.
52. O’Connor did however agree to accept Bell’s letter of resignation from the NFIP board after Bell argued that there was a conflict of interest with his position as University of Minnesota regent; James F. Bell to My Dear Mr. O’Connor, July 22 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K; O’Connor to Bell, July 27 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K.
53. Basil O’Connor to My Dear Mr. Michaels, February 15 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K.
54. National Research Council, Division of Medical Sciences, “Report of Special Committee to Review Request Submitted by Elizabeth Kenny Institute, Inc. to National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, Inc.,” November 8 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K, 16 hereafter “Report of Special Committee.”
55. Arthur D. Reynolds to My Dear Mr. O’Connor, November 22 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K.
56. “Statement By Marvin L. Kline Mayor of Minneapolis” [c.1943] MHS; see also Al Woodruff “Kline Opens Defense From Witness Chair” Minneapolis Star January 27 1961.
57. “Kline, Humphrey Step up Drive at Meeting” Minneapolis Star-Journal June 3 1943. For the debate around who deserved credit for promoting Kenny’s work see F. J. Kottke, letter to editor, “Sister Kenny and the Kline Administration” [Minneapolis unnamed newspaper] June 19 [1943], Box 19, Sister Kenny Institute 1938–1946, Myers Papers, UMN-ASC; Editor’s response to F. J. Kottke, letter to editor, “Sister Kenny and the Kline Administration” [Minneapolis unnamed newspaper] June 19 [1943], Box 19, Sister Kenny Institute 1938–1946, Myers Papers, UMN-ASC.
58. Ben Phillips “Kline Tells How City Won Kenny Institute” Minneapolis Daily Times June 3 1943; “Kline, Humphrey Step up Drive at Meeting” Minneapolis Star-Journal June 3 1943; Harry S. Sherwood “Kenny Report Awaited By Doctors” Baltimore Evening Sun October 31 1944.
59. Kenny “Data Concerning Introduction of Kenny Concept and Method of Treatment of Infantile Paralysis into the United States of America” [April 1944] Board of Directors, MHS-K.
60. Memorandum Re Conference On Kenny Program, February 10 1944, Am. 15.8, Folder 23, [accessed in 1992 before recent re-cataloging], UMN-ASC.
61. Harold S. Diehl “Summary of the Relationship of the Medical School of the University of Minnesota to the work of Sister Elizabeth Kenny,” May 1944, Public Relations, MOD-K; “Sister Kenny’s Work” Hartford Courant February 9 1944; “O’Connor Denies Foundation Break with Sister Kenny” Hartford Courant February 6 1944; “University Willing To Aid Sister Kenny” New York Times February 5 1944.
62. GBD [George Darling] “Preliminary Thoughts for a Tentative Draft: Special Committee for Investigation of Kenny Institute Request,” [September 1944] Review Committee, 1944, NAS, 2; hereafter September Draft.
63. “Kenny Work Is Defended” Minneapolis Star-Journal [June] 1944, Poliomyelitis (Reprints, 1955–1964), MHS-K; “Institute Leader Comments” New York Times June 16 1944; September Draft, 2–3. See also John F. Pohl to Dear Mr. O’Connor, March 8 1943, Box 4, Basil O’Connor Papers, Manuscripts and Special Collections, New York State Archives, Albany; James S. Pooler “Kenny Complaint Based on Money” Detroit Free Press March 31 1945.
64. Miland E. Knapp “Observations on Infantile Paralysis: Its Symptoms and Treatment” Journal-Lancet (May 1944) 64: 164–168.
65. Harold S. Diehl to Dear Don [Gudakunst], August 3 1944, [attached with] O. H. Perry Pepper to Dear Doctor Winternitz, November 10 1944, Review Committee, 1944, NAS; “Kenny Method Again” New York Times September 10 1944; “Kenny Treatment Results” Science News Let
ter (September 16 1944) 46: 183.
66. Kenny “Data Concerning Introduction of Kenny Concept” [April 1944], Evidence, Reports 1943–1952, MHS-K.
67. Kenny to Dear Dr. Diehl, May 8 1944, Dr. Harold S. Diehl, 1941–1944, MHS-K.
68. “A.M.A. Meeting” Time (June 26 1944) 43: 50.
69. “Doctors Criticize Kenny Publicity” New York Times June 15 1944. The committee had also sent questionnaires to 900 orthopedic surgeons but did not include this information for “no definite conclusions could be drawn from the reports they submitted,” a vague explanation suggesting that very vehement conclusions may well have been made but not in ways that could be easily integrated; Ralph K. Ghormley, Edward L. Compere, James A. Dickson, Robert V. Funsten, J. Albert Key, H. R. McCarroll and Herman C. Schumm “Evaluation of the Kenny Treatment of Infantile Paralysis” JAMA (June 17 1944) 125: 466.
70. J. Albert Key “Reasons Why the Orthodox Is Better than the Kenny Treatment of Poliomyelitis” Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics (October 1943) 77: 389–396; Key “The Kenny Versus the Orthodox Treatment of Anterior Poliomyelitis” Surgery (July 1943) 14: 20–31. See also H. R. McCarroll “The Role of Physical Therapy in the Early Treatment of Poliomyelitis” JAMA (October 17 1942) 120: 517–519; Lois Maddox Miller “Sister Kenny vs. The Medical Old Guard” Reader’s Digest (November 1944) 45: 41.
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