Whatever happened to polio, a crippling disease that once left tens of thousands of children feverish and paralyzed in the United States?

In 2005 — 50 years after Dr. Jonas Salk introduced an effective vaccine to prevent the feared disease — the Smithsonian National Museum of American History answered that question with an exhibition that told the story of the polio epidemic in the United States, the vaccine development and current efforts worldwide to stop polio transmission.

Museum officials believed that it was important to highlight the history of this modern medical miracle, because many people younger than 55 had no memory of and little knowledge about the disease.

Polio was largely eradicated in the United States by the mid-1960s, thanks to the research of Salk and Dr. Albert Sabin and to public support through the March of Dimes, the country's first large-scale, charitable biomedical initiative.

Due to vaccination efforts, the number of cases worldwide has fallen dramatically in recent years. According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, only 471 new cases of polio have been reported in 2007 as of Sept. 11.

Before AIDS appeared in the early 1980s, polio was the most dreaded epidemic of the 20th century in America, particularly because it often struck children.

Poliomyelitis is a viral disease that enters the body orally and destroys motor neuron cells that control the muscles used in swallowing, circulation, respiration and movement of the trunk, arms and legs.

Thanks to Rotary International and other organizations, Georgia residents can view the Smithsonian exhibit at the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation, a site closely linked with the fight against polio.

"As a National Historic Landmark District, we are proud of our past and pleased to have this opportunity to host a Smithsonian Institution exhibition that is so much a part of our history," Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said. "It's the story of one of mankind's greatest medical achievements and a story that provides hope for progress on other health issues today."

The Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation also is home to the Polio Hall of Fame, a monument that former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt dedicated in 1958.

Her husband, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, came to Warm Springs in 1924, seeking therapeutic relief from his polio in the mineral springs. As other polio victims followed, he bought land and established the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation as a nonprofit polio treatment center in 1927.

Needing money to help patients and their families during the Depression, he began raising funds through the annual President's Birthday Ball. As the toll of the disease worsened, he established the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in 1938.

More help came in 1937, when comedian Eddie Cantor coined the phrase "March of Dimes," playing on the popular March of Time newsreels, and asked radio listeners to send dimes to the White House. The Mercury Campaign, named for the image on the 10-cent coin at the time, proved hugely successful, and the infantile paralysis foundation would later change its name to the March of Dimes.

As the exhibit shows, a dime bought a quart of milk, two bottles of Coke or a magazine in the 1930s and 1940s. It also helped pay for the care and treatment of patients and for Salk's research.

The exhibit displays photos and artifacts, including the Drinker-Collins Respirator (iron lung), and the leg braces and cane used by Roosevelt. Roosevelt's work on behalf of polio patients is considered by many to be the start of the disability-rights movement.

"Most of our patients went on to have careers. They were all overachievers," said Linda Creekbaum, tour guide and public relations specialist for the institute.

New for the Georgia exhibit is a bottle of Salk's original vaccine, donated by his son.

"We also have a letter from Dr. Salk, saying how instrumental the blood tests conducted here at Warm Springs were to his research," said Gregory A. Schmieg, CEO of the institute.

Schmieg didn't realize how critical Roosevelt and Warm Springs had been to the polio story until he saw the timeline of the president's life displayed at the institute.

"Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, but the timeline ends exactly 10 years later, on April 12, 1955, when Dr. Salk announced his successful vaccine. Warm Springs is truly where this exhibit belongs, and we hope to be able to keep it permanently," he said.

IF YOU GO

• What: Smithsonian National Museum of American History's "Whatever Happened to Polio?" exhibition

• Where: Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation

• When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays

• Cost: Free

• Information and directions: Call

706-655-5010 or go to www.rooseveltrehab.org