The tension between two extremes made the 1954 March of Dimes unique.

On one hand, there was the desperation. In 1953, Franklin County reported 12 new polio cases, a record high.

Yet there was hope. By the end of 1953, Jonas E. Salk, a research professor at the University of Pittsburgh, began a nationwide study to test the effectiveness of a vaccine that he believed would prevent the crippling, sometimes fatal disease.

Founded by polio victim President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, the March of Dimes annually campaigned for donations. The foundation had backed Salk’s research financially.

Brig. Gen. George M. Carter was chairman of the Maine March of Dimes in 1954. He said that it was necessary to raise 50 percent more than the previous year. Mainers had to unify in a fight in which people looked past their differences and unselfishly gave for the common good of the state and the nation, he said.

The response was enormous.

Women’s clubs around the state pledged 100 percent support for the drive. These clubs had more than 100,000 members who actively participated in what one report called “the most successful march’ ever conducted in this state.”

On Jan. 28, women in more than 275 communities asked people to keep a porch light on to show their support and to have money ready for donations. Men acted as chauffeurs and baby-sitters. The organizer of the march, Mrs. Harold Dumont, said, “Everyone will have the opportunity to share in this effort. Those who give of their time and those who contribute will all share alike in the triumph over this dread disease.”

Most of the people stricken with polio were children, and students played an active role in the fund-raising drive. In Augusta, more than 600 students participated, standing on every corner of the city and “tagging” people with pins. The donations taken by the “Tag Day Army” totaled nearly $400. The Kennebec Journal reported that students who participated in fund-raising in all parts of Maine got “a clear understanding of the American way of solving many health problems through voluntary association for democratic action.”

Other fund-raising included a bridge tournament at the governor’s mansion hosted by Mrs. Burton Cross, the governor’s wife. There was a statewide auction. The activities yielded more than $4,500.

The Franklin County March of Dimes chapter needed to recover from a $750 deficit from the previous year in order to meet the yearly quota. With the help of the Mother’s March on Polio, which raised $1737.94, the county total reached nearly $ 6,000.

Salk’s nationwide vaccination attempt was highly successful, and in the following year it was declared safe for the American people. The March of Dimes became one of the first nationwide efforts to combat a disease through volunteer effort.

Fifty years later, even though the spread of polio is controlled in the United States, the March of Dimes campaigns annually nationwide, its efforts focused on preventing premature births.

The March of Dimes’ WalkAmerica fund-raiser, held Sunday in many communities, has taken the place of the Mother’s March.

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