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The Dawn Of The National Foundation For Infantile Paralysis

Creator: n/a
Date: January 30, 1938
Publication: The President's Birthday Magazine
Publisher: National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis
Source: Franklin D. Roosevelt Library

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"Against this is the fact, as I stated on September 23rd, that it is my opinion that all fund-raising should be under the control and supervision of the new Foundation, including the activity for raising money in connection with the celebration of my birthday in January, 1938. Heretofore we have for one reason or another, over which no one had control, always been crowded for time in which to make arrangements for properly permitting the public to participate in those occasions for the benefit of the cause of infantile paralysis. You have advised me that if the plans for that event in 1938 are delayed until the perfection of the organization of the new Foundation, we will again find ourselves handicapped by lack of time in making the proper arrangements for the 1938 birthday celebration.

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"In these circumstances, and in view of the fact that the past birthday celebrations have to a very large extent been organized and supervised by individuals officially connected with Georgia Warm Springs Foundation, I feel that we should not take any chance of delay, particularly in view of the much larger work to be done by the new Foundation. I therefore wish that, as an officer of Georgia Warm Springs Foundation, you would undertake to define and carry out plans for the 1938 celebration. The funds received from that occasion will, of course, go to the new Foundation, and when its organization is complete it will take over the supervision of that event as well as any other fund-raising activity.

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Very sincerely yours, FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT."

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The list of thirty-four trustees chosen for the National Foundation represent outstanding national leaders in many phases of human activity in the United States. They represent practically every section of United States.

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The densely populated New York area will be represented by Keith Morgan, chairman of the Committee for the Celebration of the President's Birthday; Basil O'Connor, former law partner of the President; Cornelius N. Bliss, John S. Burke, Carle C. Conway, Marshall Field, James V. Forrestal, S. Parker Gilbert, W. Averell Harriman, Jeremiah Milbank, Thomas E. Murray, Jr., Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., Thomas J. Watson, and Clarence M. Woolley.

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A trustee from the Nation's capital, who for years has been active in the campaign against infantile paralysis, is Commissioner George E. Allen, lawyer, hotel man and municipal executive. Another trustee from Washington is Robert V. Fleming, President of the Riggs National Bank, and a well-known banker and financier.

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George F. Rand, of Marine Trust Co., will assist the campaign from Buffalo, while John R. Macomber, corporation official and trustee of a number of social institutions, will be in charge of "polio" activities in Boston. Swinging down through the East and South, we find Robert H. Colley, of Philadelphia, and Robert E. McMath, of the Bethlehem Steel Co., Bethlehem, Pa.; S. Clay Williams, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company of Winston-Salem, N. C., and Robert W. Woodruff, President of the Coca-Cola Co., of Atlanta, Ga.

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In the Middle West the Foundation trustees include such business leaders as Walter J. Cummings and Walter P. Murphy of Chicago; automobile manufacturers Edsel Ford of Dearborn, Mich., and Frederic J. Fisher, of Detroit; Elton Hoyt, II, of Cleveland, and James F. Bell, well-known Minneapolis milling executive. Carroll B. Merriam, banker, aids in the attack on infantile paralysis in Kansas, while Harvey C. Couch and William Clayton are assisting in Arkansas and Texas, respectively.

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That leaves only the Far West which will be represented by Charles E. Perkins, author and corporation official of Santa Barbara, Cal., and William F. Humphrey, of San Francisco, President of Tide Water Associated Oil Co., and director of many other corporations. Leighton McCarthy, President of Canada Life Assurance Co., of Toronto, Can., is the only trustee outside the country and he lives just across Lake Ontario.

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All of these men are prominent in the world of business and stand out as leaders in their respective enterprises. They are men of character, ability and initiative. All are familiar with social affairs and they have extensive executive experience.

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The Board of Trustees was selected in such a manner that every section of the United States is represented in The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. Through coordination and cooperation, this Foundation will fight infantile paralysis on a national scale, in the most effective manner that money and science can provide.

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