Author: Emma Christensen
With my time here this spring working in the Jonas Salk Legacy Collection, I have learned not only a lot about myself, but also the work of the man who created the polio vaccine. Throughout the semester, I was tasked with helping to update the lovingly dubbed “Cabinets” on the first floor of the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. To put it simply, I was creating an exhibition from scratch. A feat I had never even imagined doing before beginning this internship. Nonetheless, I greatly appreciated all of the help from Dr. Burke and his team in completing this task.
The task, above all, was to create an exhibit about science that still felt approachable to a wider public. I felt that there was a middle ground that needed to be struck between the public and those in the medical fields. Therefore, the exhibition I created was more focused and geared towards an audience who, firstly, is already familiar with him, and secondly, is familiar with the concepts and terminology that surround public health. By narrowing down my scope, I was able to work more towards creating an exhibit that felt like a natural part of the School of Public Health rather than a more general showcase of archival materials. Most of all, these cabinets needed to spark the same curiosity I had when researching and studying Jonas Salk and the development of his polio vaccine. I was a frequent visitor to the Thomas Boulevard Archives during my time with the Collection, mostly because that was where the paper collections about Dr. Salk were held, but I also wanted to use as much of the physical collection in the School of Public Health as well. Juxtaposing physical objects with paper notes and information cards, to me, would help create a more cohesive theme that better complements the content of the other public displays about Salk in the building.
With this in mind, I wish that anyone who visits the School of Public Health, whether student, faculty, or just a stranger, will have that same curious moment while looking at the exhibition. Curiosity and engagement are a key part to curating museum collections. By allowing other people to not only learn about Dr. Salk’s more personal inquiries along with the technical aspects of creating the original polio vaccine, but it also feels like a perfect intersection between scientific research and museum curation. Through my time with the Jonas Salk Legacy Collection, I’ve learned that exhibits work best when people are enticed to see what’s inside. I hope very dearly that the exhibition I’ve helped to curate will entice anyone, even if they’re not a Public Health student, to learn more about the work of Jonas Salk and his polio vaccine.