As a child growing up in 1950s Guildford County, North Carolina, David Grimes witnessed a national epidemic. The experience made a lifelong impression on Grimes and directed the course of his career. This image depicts the 1948 return of the polio virus in North Carolina. In Greensboro, Grimes’ hometown, the Army Overseas Replacement Depot was became a makeshift hospital, where children were treated regardless of race. What Grimes witnessed directed his personal and professional path. Listen to his story.
This image in the SoundCloud frame shows a makeshift polio treatment facility in Greensboro, N.C. in 1948. Photo is from the Greensboro History Museum Collection.