The images and memories are still familiar to those of a certain age - children in braces or iron lungs; the terrifying fear that washed over America each summer - a fear that out of nowhere a seemingly healthy child would catch polio and be crippled or killed. A fear so great that children were forbidden to play at pools, playgrounds and movie theaters. And, then, a medical miracle occurred, and with it, a medical superstar was made, Dr. Jonas Salk, whose name became synonymous with a vaccine that he initially requested not be named after him. Less widely known are the events that took place from 1949-1955, a six-year period that changed the medical community and the country forever; how a beloved, polio-afflicted President inspired a nation to send their dimes to the unlikely place of the University of Pittsburgh, and how there, an entire community pulled together to conquer the most feared disease of the 20th century.—Carl Kurlander

The story of how a community and a nation, boldly led by a young Dr. Jonas Salk and his research team at the University of Pittsburgh, came together in the early 1950's to defeat polio, the most feared disease of the 20th century. By highlighting the stories of the unsung heroes who waged war with Salk and his team against the 'summer plague,' the documentary does what no other film on the subject has - it reveals the story from the insiders' point of view and gives audiences hope that the spirit of cooperation which spurred the development of the Salk polio vaccine could be a model for solving contemporary problems.—Anonymous