Making a Home for Salk’s Legacy

Author: Lily Heistand

A woman stand in front of a cinderblock wall planning the layout of images and artifacts for an exhibit

Material culture is a foundational element in creating identity in communities, big and small. Living my whole life in Pittsburgh, I have been immersed in the legacies and histories of this city. In January of this year, I was thrilled to learn my internship would allow me to be involved in the celebration of a Pittsburgh legacy through an exhibit of their material culture.

Jonas Salk is known throughout the world as the creator of the polio vaccine, but Pittsburgh is home to his legacy, the site of the vaccine's genesis and where the first trials were administered in local schools. The University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health, having recently acquired a collection of Salk’s lab material, wanted to showcase the legacy Salk has in Pittsburgh. To do so, they enlisted a team from Pitt’s Department of History of Art and Architecture, of which I was included, to formulate this exhibit.

Working with my team throughout the semester on this project has enlightened me about the extensive processes which are necessary for creating a new exhibit. The artifacts, the viewer, and the exhibition space were all things that had to be critically analyzed. Alongside this, there were various stakeholders who had to be communicated with for the creation of the exhibit to be smoothly organized.

The process began with sifting through the collection to determine items that would be viable for display. Assessing the collection meant gently handling artifacts and scrutinizing them for interest and importance. Once a piece of material was found that could be feasible for display, it was placed separately for further investigation. Various factors influenced the overall composition of the exhibit, and the exhibit space was one factor that determined what equipment could be displayed. Another component of the overall process included walking through the space and visualizing the potential viewer. Based on the content of the collection, the exhibition space, and how such factors were coherent with our overall vision, the artifacts for display were decided upon.

What has interested me the most about the process of curating an exhibit for Salk’s legacy is the way in which the narrative of the exhibit is formulated by the contents of the collection. As an Anthropology and Museum Studies student, my interests lie in the study of material culture and the presentation of material culture to the public. Most people have a general understanding of Salk and his work, but his legacy becomes more impactful when we can translate his story through the display of his real lab equipment. To actually see the equipment that aided in the creation of a vaccine that saved millions of people's lives is what makes the Salk exhibit so impactful.

I am honored that I was able to contribute to making a permanent home for Salk’s legacy in Pittsburgh. I hope that his work and achievements are memorialized not only physically in the School of Public Health but also in the collective identity of the Pittsburgh community.

Lily Heistand, Museum Studies Intern at the Jonas Salk Collection, School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh - Spring 2023

Constellations Group