Recalling traveling salesman’s role in polio immunizations
Community is built by many and yet each individual adds an important element to history and its legacy. Some build houses. Some build schools. Some build churches. Some organize clubs. Some gather us for our health.
Between the late 1940s and mid-1950s, several polio epidemics prevented people from gathering for large public events. If one uses “polio” as a keyword in search of local papers digitalized in Newsbank, 8721 newspaper articles are listed during this time. People with children were concerned.
By 1955, Jonas Salk provided the world with a “killed virus” vaccine. This vaccine protected the individual but did not effectively prevent the spread of the virus. By 1961, Albert Sabin had developed an “attenuated live virus” oral vaccine. (Remember the sugar cubes?) Distribution of the vaccine was the next step.
For the purpose of this narrative, enter the individual who assisted with the coordination of this gathering for our health: Justin Amesbury Hopkins.
Hopkins lived in St. Andrew’s Parish and was the territory manager for Wyeth Laboratories, the distributor of the Sabin vaccine. A notebook is in the care of the Hopkins family that details the events of the vaccine distribution in 1963.
Let’s take a minute for the individual. Justin Amesbury Hopkins was born in 1916 on the peninsula of Charleston. Pictures and shared memories are indicative of a fun childhood. He was a member of the Bull Street Bulldogs, which mainly involved themselves in athletics.
He attended Murray Vocational School and dreamed of becoming an architect. This dream did not materialize, so he entered the world of employment. His first job was as a clerk at Geer Drugs. Personal events and world events influenced the picture during this time. He met and courted Selina Parker Stoddard, of the Stoddard Dairy. Selina was living in Charleston with a relative while pursuing a career in teaching. They married in 1943. World War II found him enlisting with the US Coast Guard and serving until peace was declared.
Hopkins then returned home to a career with Geer Drugs. Territory Manager for Wyeth Laboratories was his next career move. As he moved around St Andrew’s Parish with his family – they lived in Avondale, St. Andrew’s Homes, Byrnes Downs, and Parkwood Estates—he also traveled the greater territory for Wyeth.
The City Directories list Hopkins as a traveling salesman during this time. It was during his tenure with Wyeth that Hopkins played a leading role in coordinating the gathering of the local community for the purpose of Sabin vaccine immunization.
“Stop Polio Sundays” was the name given to the Charleston County campaign sponsored by the Charleston County Medical Society to ensure all residents received vaccines. Dr. Margaret Jenkins was the Chairman of the Steering Committee, of which Hopkins was a member. Sundays in March (Type I vaccine), May (Type III vaccine), and June (Type II) were chosen for the mass oral immunizations via sugar cubes.
Coordination of the use of schools for immunization locations; receiving the vaccines at the airport; transporting the allotted vaccines to the appropriate cold storage facility, which happened to be the Purity Ice Cream Plant; and communicating all the logistical details to the leaders in the community was the responsibility of the Steering Committee.
In a personal letter dated July of 1963, Dr. Jenkins thanked Hopkins for his “extensive time and effort” serving as coordinator for the many details necessary for the success of the “Stop Polio Sundays” campaign despite the “many local problems which we had.” In her letter, she detailed the metrics: in Charleston County, 86 percent were immunized against Type I, 77 percent against Type III, and 78 percent against Type II.
Thank you, Justin A. Hopkins, for being that individual in the community who helped make it happen.
Stories about people, places, or happenings in St. Andrew’s Parish? Contact Donna Jacobs westashleybook@gmail.com.
